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Elsewhere (268)

April 9, 2018 by David 118 Comments

Will Gu on the deep and worldly wisdom on offer at Scripps College: 

The college will be hosting two Venezuelan officials next week at a three-day speaker series praising the “grassroots initiatives” of the country’s totalitarian government. The officials, Venezuelan Consul-Generals Antonio Cordero and Jesús Chucho García, will be speaking to students on “African solidarities,” “coups and imperial wars,” and the country’s vision for “a new society rooted in political participation, communal economies and democracy.” The description adds that the event is “for all who are interested in economics that serve people not profits.” Venezuela is still facing mass food shortages as a result of its government’s economic illiteracy. People in Venezuela have lost an average of 19 pounds from recent food shortages… The event description does not mention whether the two Venezuelan officials will discuss their country’s rampant corruption problem, the government’s dire financial situation, or the rapid devaluation of Venezuela’s currency to the extent that the government cannot afford to pay for money printing services.

Related: this, and, rather tellingly, the first item here. 

Cathy Young on debate and its enemies: 

When about 30% of college students favour censorship, it should be a cause for alarm — especially because that’s up from 22% two years ago. Moreover, 53% of students believe “promoting an inclusive society” is a higher priority than protecting free speech rights. Over a third say it is sometimes acceptable to shout a speaker down, and one in 10 approve of violent disruption. The last figure may seem small, but it means some 2 million collegians in the United States believe it can be okay to use violence to stop speech they don’t like. That’s not good news.

Gail Heriot on racial discipline quotas and perverse media narratives: 

A Government Accountability Office report finds that boys are disciplined more often than girls in school. It also finds that African-American students are disciplined more often than white students and that whites are disciplined at higher rates than Asian Americans. Of course, the New York Times covers it with an utterly misleading headline “Government Watchdog Finds Racial Bias in School Discipline.” Here’s what the NYT didn’t say: Just a few days ago, another government report showed that African-American students self-report that they have been in a physical fight on school property at a rate more than twice the white rate. Overwhelmingly, the aggregate disparities in school discipline are the result of differing rates of misbehaviour, not bias.

And Heather Mac Donald on the same. 

Readers unfamiliar with the consequences of ‘progressive’ racial discipline quotas should take a look at this item here, and also this one. Both offer vivid illustrations of leftist psychology given power – and by vivid I mean ludicrous and horrifying. Such that the groping and choking of teachers and the setting afire of students’ hair are excused on grounds that “African-American boys” are more “physical” and “demonstrative.” Amid the inevitable chaos and degeneracy – including a dramatic fall in maths and reading scores, and a rapid rise in assaults and classroom thuggery, up to and including actual riots – amid all this, critics of the policy are smeared as racists, while “white privilege” guilt hustling is made mandatory. And while terrified teaching staff console themselves with free emergency whistles.

As usual, feel free to share your own links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments.




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