Elsewhere (246)
Further to this item here, on the academic heresy of affirming bourgeois values, Aryssa Damron has more:
The National Lawyers Guild chapter at the University of Pennsylvania Law School condemned Penn professor Amy Wax’s recent op-ed, in which Wax, along with a co-author, lamented the “breakdown of the country’s bourgeois culture” and declared: “All cultures are not created equal.” The members of Penn’s National Lawyers Guild wrote that Wax’s comments are a “textbook example of white supremacy and cultural elitism” and alleged she is a “segregationist” with “bigoted views.” “We call on the administration,” Penn’s National Lawyers Guild wrote, “to consider more deeply the toll that this takes on students, particularly students of colour and members of the LGBTQIA community, and to consider whether it is in the best interests of the school and its students for Professor Wax to continue to teach a required first-year class.”
When asked for evidence of Professor Wax’s supposedly “segregationist” views and her alleged endorsement of “white supremacy,” the indignant students chose not to oblige. But hey, witches must be burned.
Entirely unrelated, Pamela Paresky on things that mustn’t be thought, or at least articulated:
Today, for what seems to be an increasing proportion of the educated left, even the mere willingness to discuss certain kinds of facts is “harmful.” The data in the [Google] memo… was beside the point. Or perhaps more accurately, the fact that [James Damore] was willing to cite it was the problem… As John McWhorter has pointed out, “certain questions are not to be asked.” And when they are, they are received “with indignation that one would even ask them.” Even more pernicious, however, they inevitably lead to the implication that not only is asking these questions a symptom of the problem, but the presence of the asker is, too… Perhaps what makes the Google scenario stand out from even the most astounding campus reactions is that Google is not a college campus, but a company. And not just any company, but one responsible for much of the scientific, historical and objective facts that many, if not most of us find online.
Charles Cooke on academia’s mental agoraphobia:
If our colleges continue down this road, they are going to create a host of extremely weird, hyper-sensitive people who have no earthly idea how to converse and interact with the sane… Ideally, universities would be far more tolerant, open, and intellectually diverse than the “real world.” Ideally, they would host genuine and untrammelled free inquiry, and in a manner that is hard, if not impossible, to replicate elsewhere… The old archetype is of the student who leaves his stuffy parents and has his mind expanded by learning. “You don’t understand,” he says, when returning home. The new archetype, by unlovely contrast, is of the student who can only express himself when outside of his professors’ earshot.
And Berkeley’s fainting couch has been wheeled out once again. Because apparently Ben Shapiro endorses “white supremacy, misogyny and xenophobia,” and engages in “fascist intellectual thuggery.” Which I suppose means acknowledging facts. The trauma-inducing event featuring Mr Shapiro can be viewed online here on September 14.
Feel free to share your own links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments.
The members of Penn’s National Lawyers Guild wrote that Wax’s comments are a “textbook example of white supremacy and cultural elitism” and alleged she is a “segregationist” with “bigoted views.”
Law students lying.
#Progress
Ben Sixsmith on Western history and its enemies:
There’s more, of course.
Law students lying.
Well, dishonesty is a prerequisite of almost all adult leftism.
UC Berkeley is playing all sorts of games with Shapiro’s visit during “Free Speech Week” … they’ve cut in half the number of tickets allowed for the event, they will only allow tickets to be picked up in person “maybe” two days before the event (no will-call on the event day) and people have to have proper id to pick them up. No group is allowed to purchase tickets.
All for a rather mild-mannered Orthodox Jew who speaks on mainstream, traditional values.
All for a rather mild-mannered Orthodox Jew who speaks on mainstream, traditional values.
Quite. Shapiro may be sharper than most but he rarely indulges in gratuitous provocation, or scandal for its own sake, and he actively invites questions from critics in the audience, often with lengthy and generous responses. As you say, he articulates the values of a great many people, few of whom would regard themselves as controversialists. As a measure of how insular and perverse the Clown Quarter has become, the reactions to his appearances are a pretty good yardstick.
Nowhere in Wax’s essay does she mention race. Yet that’s the first thing the Progressive Left invokes to criticize her. N.B. most of the critics are white Leftists, who I guess do not believe it’s possible for brown people to do the things which Professor Wax applauds.
Who are the racists again?
If modern academia continues on its current trajectory, I fail to see how the Liberal Arts, Humanities and Social (Justice) “Sciences” can remain a part of a university which includes the rigorous STEM courses of study. They either have to separate into STEM concerns versus quasi-religious “seminaries” for the Left or the Liberal Arts and Humanities will destroy the rest of the university. Those are the only two conceivable outcomes where SJW’s prohibit certain areas or inquiry and the resultant answers from public consumption.
And, who are the religious fanatics again?
The National Lawyer’s Guild is and always was a Communist front organization:
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6162
Whether they support or oppose free speech rights (or any other civil rights) depends on the person doing the speaking and which position will advance the cause of totalitarian leftism.
White people preventing blacks from preparing for a hurricane
Or something. I’m not quite sure how to make heads or tales of it.
“Tails”, not “tales”, of course. I need another cup of coffee….
All for a rather mild-mannered Orthodox Jew who speaks on mainstream, traditional values.
Readers who agree with much, or some, of Shapiro’s views, or who have family members who do, might try picturing those family members also being screeched at hysterically and physically intimidated, simply for daring to articulate insufficiently leftist views.
How Classical Studies has “deep roots” in fascism when the field predates the dogma is a mystery.
Somebody doesn’t know what a fasces is.
Rome was the original fascist state, inasmuch as they had legal provision for turning themselves into one in the event of crisis.
Somebody doesn’t know what a fasces is.
I’m not sure they know what “feces” is.
“Ideally, universities would be far more tolerant, open, and intellectually diverse than the “real world.” Ideally, they would host genuine and untrammelled free inquiry, and in a manner that is hard, if not impossible, to replicate elsewhere…”
No, more than “ideally”. That’s what they’re for. It’s completely antithetical to the whole idea of a university – from the same Latin root as “universal”, let’s not forget* – to silence opinion.
The institutions which are allowing this sort of censorship to occur aren’t just “bad” universities; they’ve forfeited the right to the name altogether.
*Boo! Classics! Fascist! (I wonder if that’s one reason they don’t like it. No, on second thoughts, I don’t. I know it is.)
“If our colleges continue down this road, they are going to create a host of extremely weird, hyper-sensitive people who have no earthly idea how to converse and interact with the sane…”
That’s the genius of it. The products of this indoctrination are fanatics. They’re willing to suffer for the cause. They *can’t* any longer be sane citizens.
It’s completely antithetical to the whole idea of a university
The original idea of the university was to act as a guild system for students of theology and related canonical subjects. The students had all the power and the teachers had to do what the students demanded.
So not too different from today, really.
“Rome was the original fascist state…
Do you mean a provision for tyrannical rule in times of crisis?
Somebody doesn’t know what a fasces is.
It’s the Latin embodiment of the phrase “Stronger Together”.
“Tails”, not “tales”, of course.
Actually, “tales” rather fits in this context as Mr. Wiki says 61% of Cubans are Persons of Pallor which is only about 15% less than the Joint forces at Gitmo.
fascist intellectual thuggery must be intered into the archives of Amazingly Stupid Slogans or ASS for short, serendipidly 🙂
“Rome was the original fascist state…”
The laws and political systems of the Roman Republic were created deliberately to oppose the creation of tyrants after a succession of tyrannical kings who thought they could circumvent or ignore the law, the symbol of the fasces was a sign that the bearer, who would have been an elected official with a fixed term of office had the power under the law to dispense justice.(not to mention that many Roman magistrates who had overstepped their authority while in office were prosecuted for their misdeeds after their term of office was over)
Also the common people had powerful allies in the Tribunes of the Plebs who although being separate from the political class and not drawn from the ranks of the Senate had significant powers to ensure the common people were not subjected to unfair laws.
When you look at how satirists,poets and playwrights and the mob mocked and insulted the Republics leaders throughout its history without being locked up would suggest that the Roman people had a pretty high level of liberty and freedom of speech ,its only after the republic fell and was replaced by the rule of the Caesars that insulting the big nobs suddenly became a crime again.
As John McWhorter has pointed out, “certain questions are not to be asked.”
I prefer questions I can’t answer to answers I can’t question.
(I’m not sure who said that. It was a “quote” I saw the other day that is spot-on perfect.)
How Classical Studies has “deep roots” in fascism when the field predates the dogma is a mystery.
To the leftist True Believer, it is always Year Zero, so nothing predates the dogma.
They probably think of Classics as Class-ics, AKA the study of class techniques to oppress the benighted.
I’d like to submit a problem for public suggestion. I fall asleep, wake up 2-3 hours later, and can’t get back to sleep. Ambien adds maybe an extra hour. I can’t take melatonin because it clashes with a prescription I have to take. Any ideas?
Pogonip,
Have you ever been tested for sleep apnea? Or have you discussed with your doctor if any side effects of your prescription meds may cause sleep problems?
Yes and yes. No luck.
Do you mean a provision for tyrannical rule in times of crisis?
Yes. The terms of a Roman dictatorship were the inspiration for Italy’s Fascist Party.
And Andy….Sulla, dude. Sulla.
fascist intellectual thuggery
The only intellectual thuggery involved is that of Herbert Marcuse, who was responsible for of the left-wing protesters’ worldview.
Pogonip—shame about the melatonin. I’ve taken it nightly for years, really helps me drop off.
Try herbal lavender. When you wake up, daub a drop or two on your shoulders or head. That’s what I do, seems to work to get me get sleeping again.
The terms of a Roman dictatorship were the inspiration for Italy’s Fascist Party.
I’d assumed that Ms Zuckerberg’s accusation of fascism was aimed at “Classics as a discipline,” i.e., the scholarly investigation of antiquity, not antiquity itself. I suppose it’s possible that the department of Classical and Byzantine Studies at Oxford is teeming with the fascistically inclined – I wouldn’t know – but it seems unlikely. Either way, Ms Zuckerberg, a former contributor to Jezebel, seems to favour a rather sweeping definition of fascism, and of “reactionary politics,” to the extent that she openly derides the notion that her own publication might benefit from being a little more “ideologically diverse,” i.e., not overwhelmingly leftwing:
Seen in context, this suggests that if a scholar doubts the value of, say, identity politics or intersectional feminism, or some other modish conceit, and indeed fails to affirm such things, he or she will not be published in any journal edited by Ms Zuckerberg, who seems to equate being even vaguely conservative with “racism, sexism and structural oppression.”
he articulates the values of a great many people, few of whom would regard themselves as controversialists. As a measure of how insular and perverse the Clown Quarter has become, the reactions to his appearances are a pretty good yardstick.
That.
As David, and others have noted before, it’s a mistake to send people to University who really shouldn’t be there. Evidently, spending hundreds of billions of dollars and demonising White people as racist has done nothing to close the gap between White and non-White students:
From the Washington Post
“We didn’t know it was this bad”: New ACT scores show huge achievement gaps…
“You could argue that those investments should have made a clearer difference,” he said, “and that’s not what we’re seeing.”
What are the odds on the Educational Establishment:
A) Realising they’ve wasted enormous amounts of time and money for ideological reasons.
or
B) Doubling down on their failed policies.
Via Steve Sailer
That.
When even Christina Hoff Sommers requires a large, armed security detail to ensure her physical safety on campus, something is malfunctioning.
…something is malfunctioning.
Actually, it seems to be going precisely to plan.
Pogonip,
An easy first try is to get lots of bright light, preferably sunlight, first thing the morning. This resets your circadian rhythm so that your body knows that day is day and night is night.
Also, melatonin essentially reduces somatostatin, iirc, which blocks the release of growth hormone. But there are other supplements that can do the same thing, such as glutamine or citrulline.
I have also heard, though never tried, that tryptophan at night will convert to serotonin and from that to endogenous melatonin.
Note that with the amino acids you probably want to pick just one. If they have to compete with each other, or with a late night meal, to cross the blood/brain barrier, they probably won’t work. You can poke around a bit on your own to learn more. Finish your eating and drinking a few hours before bed if you can. Booze only in moderation, of course
Lastly, some people swear that late night light, especially blue light cuz it mimics midday sun, can throw off your internal clock. Blue blocking glasses, like a cheap pair of Amber safety goggles, might help. Here’s a link/pic that can help confirm if a particular pair of goggles are suitable or not:
https://www.paleohacks.com/sleep/will-plain-red-or-orange-lenses-block-blue-light-for-sleep-17104
Best of luck.
Via Darleen, this.
I teach for a prominent university. Much of the curriculum for lower level classes is standardized. I just received an email from College admin that a course I teach will be further lightened by eliminating APA writing standards and changing all assignments to worksheets, in the name of “student success”.
To promote “success” in this way smacks of desperation on the part of the administration.
pogonip: Try a Magnesium supplement. It certainly helps me get to sleep and get back to sleep if I wake in the night. It also keeps me regular and reduces my foot and leg cramps. I definitely notice the difference if I don’t take it.
Thanks, everybody!
Daniel Reams;
would that be the same Sulla who having been granted the dictatorship then voluntarily gave it up and would wander the forum without bodyguards and explain his actions and reasons for doing so to any citizen who asked him? Sulla was a monster when he was running the show but considering the Republic lasted for some 700 odd years there was a distinct lack of tyrants and lunatics in charge, The Republic was far from perfect but ask yourself, would you rather have been a Roman citizen or a medieval peasant?
In slightly more encouraging news:
Charles Murray on a (surprisingly civilised) visit to Harvard.
Oregon woman takes the vapors and gets UK conductor Matthew Halls fired over “racist” joke.
We’ll ignore that the the conductor was bantering with his black American friend, singer Reginald Mobley, but the joke:
Passing over the fact that there is not one damn thing “racist” about a Southerner of any race having an accent or eating grits as both are pretty universal, nonetheless:
Yeah, nothing provincial about our self proclaimed left coast academic betters.
Oregon woman takes the vapors and gets UK conductor Matthew Halls fired over “racist” joke.
This detail stands out:
But aren’t we being told, repeatedly, that whether or not a thing is racist can only be determined by the sufficiently brown party?
And if anyone is worried that of late I’ve failed to give Laurie Penny the attention she so evidently craves, Tim Newman has some thoughts on her self-imagined magnificence.
But aren’t we being told, repeatedly, that whether or not a thing is racist can only be determined by the sufficiently brown party?
Heh.
Relevant.
https://twitter.com/RoundSqrCupola/status/906682223822336000
However, Mobley was not invited to give evidence and he says there is a deep irony in the fact the authorities appear to have assumed on his behalf that he would have objected to the joke.
See also this from an excellent article by Emily Yoffe in The Atlantic
It must be so empowering being a woman or black man being told by a person in a position of power that you’re a victim and incapable of assessing what has transpired. And these are the ones who are supposed to be on their side!
And if anyone is worried that of late I’ve failed to give Laurie Penny the attention she so evidently craves, Tim Newman has some thoughts on her self-imagined magnificence.
To be honest, it’s absolutely tragic. As most of your readers (and mine) would know, I got involved with someone very much like Penny last year (albeit she didn’t go in for nose-picking, in private or on TV) and once the dust had settled and the anger worn off, I could see it was a really sad situation. Shit parenting, ental issues, and a lack of people around her when young to pull her aside and point her in the right direction. Then she falls in with a group of poisonous individuals who encourage her, and before long it’s too late for her to back down. I write about it partly because I am forever grateful that I had a couple of friends around me between 20-25 who made sure if I started acting the twat (as we all do) they’d pull me back in line, and I’d do the same for them.