Posted on 11/11/2015 6:06:59 AM PST by Kaslin
It seems like every week there's a new horror story of political correctness run amok at some college campus.
A warning not to wear culturally insensitive Halloween costumes sparked an imbroglio at Yale, which went viral over the weekend. A lecturer asked in an email, "Is there no room anymore for a child to be a little bit obnoxious ... a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?"
Students went ballistic. When an administrator (who is the lecturer's spouse) defended free speech, some students wanted his head. One student wrote in a Yale Herald op-ed (now taken down), "He doesn't get it. And I don't want to debate. I want to talk about my pain."
Washington Post columnist (and Tufts professor) Daniel Drezner was initially horrified by the spectacle but ultimately backtracked. Invoking Friedrich Hayek's insights from "The Use of Knowledge in Society," Drezner cautions outside observers that "there is an awful lot of knowledge that is local in character, that cannot be culled from abstract principles or detached observers."
As a Hayek fanboy and champion of localism, I should be quite sympathetic. But this time, I think Drezner's initial reaction was closer to the mark. The notion that the Yale incident is an isolated one defies all of the evidence.
Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, and Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, recently wrote a sweeping survey titled "The Coddling of the American Mind" for the Atlantic, in which they cataloged how students are being swaddled in an emotional cocoon.
Taco bars at sorority fundraisers are considered offensive. A group at Duke University deemed phrases such as "man up" too horrible to tolerate. And so on.
The suggestion that the tempest at Yale is an isolated incident reminds me of my favorite line from Thoreau: "Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk."
So what is going on?
Well, a lot. Many conservatives want to put all the blame on political correctness or cultural Marxism. And though I think such ideologies certainly belong in the dock, political correctness is now quite old.
Lamentations about it were commonplace when I was in college 25 years ago. Does anyone, other than a few campus hotheads, actually believe universities are more intolerant, bigoted and racist than they were a generation ago?
What has changed are the students. Yes, there has been a lot of ideological indoctrination in which kids are taught that taking offense gives them power. But, again, that idea is old. What's new is the way kids are being raised.
Consider play. Children are hardwired to play. That's how we learn. But what happens when play is micromanaged? St. Lawrence University professor Steven Horwitz argues that it undermines democracy.
Free play -- tag in the schoolyard, pickup basketball at the park, etc. -- is a very complicated thing. It requires young people to negotiate rules among themselves, without the benefit of some third-party authority figure. These skills are hugely important in life. When parents or teachers short-circuit that process by constantly intervening to stop bullying or just to make sure that everyone plays nice, Horwitz argues, "we are taking away a key piece of what makes it possible for free people to be peaceful, cooperative people by devising bottom-up solutions to a variety of conflicts."
The rise in "helicopter parenting" and the epidemic of "everyone gets a trophy" education are another facet of the same problem. We're raising millions of kids to be smart and kind, but also fragile.
And what happens when large numbers of these delicate little flowers are set free to navigate their way through life? They feel unsafe and demand "safe spaces." They feel threatened by uncomfortable ideas and demand "trigger warnings." They might even want written rules or contracts to help them negotiate sexual relations.
In other words, this is the generation the mandarins of political correctness have been waiting for.
They’re not fragile - they’re Maoists taking advantage of a situation politically.
And we are hiring too many dingbat academicians.
More like useful idiots for the coming Marxist revolution.
Campus” Emotions” show......
That is exactly what I was thinking. Its a mistake to call these kids weak or fragile, as if they are still helpless infants. They are cultural revolutionaries who literally want to overthrow our system. They will use any anti-democratic means necessary, including threats, intimidation and violence. They are very dangerous.
‘They bring a knife, we bring a gun.’ ~ Barrack Hussein 0bama
He made the mistake of asking for a serious response from idiots.
HE should have repeated some famous quotes and TOLD everyone e knock it off, but they sensed wimpiness.
He should have given them the quote they should all learn to live by “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend with my life your right to say it”
it’s very twisted. since we have sort or outlawed ambition, b/c that would be too capitalistic...but yet the human heart still seeks productivity, achievement and recognition.
but we have redefined success to mean only that you are part of an aggrieved group, and that you have been offended.
so the identification with a “minority” group and being aggrieved, is the only way to achieve status.
So everyone is rushing to do just that.
it’s very twisted.
It is true that many families are raising weak entitled kids however even those kids will have to operate in the real world someday. They may win battles against weak campus administrators but some day they will run into a wall made up of people who don’t give a damn about their safe spaces.
I think the vast majority ARE fragile, and are easily misled and manipulated by the Maoists who want to control us all.
For years certain groups have used it to great effect. Since we all have different identifiers, we can now charge anyone that is not in our particular sub group as not being able to understand us or feel our outrage.
It is the anti-melting pot strategy.
A generation of delicate little petunias.
That's exactly right! Fragile kids are focused on themselves, and any supposed injuries to themselves.
These folks are focused on COMPLETELY suppressing the freedoms of others. Shout-downs are the starting point. But violence is always implied.
Fragile? No. Maoist? Absolutely.
Their weakness, decadence and softness is an advantage we have.
In the 1950's where I lived in Bergen county NJ there was a Summer Athletics Program. When school was done for the year the Recreation Dept would senfd to every school playground a Rec Dept guy who would show up at 8:00 AM and bring with him a bag of baseball,softball bats, balls, Paddle ball equipment, badminton equipment, basketballs. He laid it out and went to sit under a tree. We, whoever was there at the time were left to ourselves to set up the equip and play. If there were enough to play softball (minimum needed was 5 per team with special rules) then we chose up sides and we played the game. There was never any interference from the Rec guy and the only tine he was needed was if we had a dispute of some kind over rules. This almost never happened and we were left to our own devices to play the game(s). He was there until 5 PM and unless it rained we played all day with a break (sometimes) for lunch. Kids came and went and as they showed up were immediately placed on one of the teams if they wanted to play. We did it all by ourselves. Kids who got hurt went to the sidelines and sat it out for a bit and came back when they felt better. Anything more than a routine scrape or a bruise was handled by the Rec guy who had a first aid kit. We spent the entire day free from adults and we only now realize what a paradise we lived in way back then. Although there weren't many blacks in our area there were a few in our school and they were welcome to play.
It isn’t that Cultural Marxism is ‘old’ but rather that its’ zealous followers have done their work of unleashing the devil in people really well.
Take a look at some of the post-Ferguson "Black Lives Matter" protests that were held around the country with college-aged kids organizing them. Whenever I came across a video clip where a reported had the guts to ask the leaders what they intended to accomplish by disrupting business, blocking traffic, etc., the interview targets -- even with a large group of fellow protesters around them -- would simper and slink away from the camera.
Protesters Living with Parents in Luxury Mansions
That's some revolutionary leader there. Dude.
So true and not a lot different from the 60’s “love” children. The one big difference is that campuses have been overwhelmed with kids from other countries who come to Amerika for an education. Funny, they escape their rat trap countries and dictators only to promote their communist agendas here.
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