Academia Neglects Its Most Important Function: A Free Marketplace of Ideas

American Thinker | 24 Jul, 2022 | Clarice Feldman

[upchuck]

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[Captain Rhino]

I agree with the general idea of the closing down of academia to the market place of ideas by the radical leftist cliques now in-charge of its top and departmental leadership. It is indeed a dark age for these institutions. But, as in all things, eventually the tide will turn and when it does…

Think of what happened in Eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall fell. Think of the visceral expressions of contempt for communist symbols, institutions and leadership. Think of the final Soviet Premier, Gorbachev, and the 70 years it took for him to emerge as the last in a chain of authoritarian leaders. Think of his wisdom to see the failure of state socialism/communism in theory and practice and to end it and the Cold War. He came from within the 70 year old establishment. But also think of Putin, who also came from within that same Soviet establishment. If Gorbachev represented a turn toward peace and good will, Putin represents a turn back towards a more sinister and xenophobic Russia of the past.

The struggle to right the badly listing ship of academia is worth the effort, just as forcefully and patiently resisting communism was and still is. If we decide to abandon academia, there is still an educational need to be met and the marketplace needs to start thinking about it. What are the alternatives to the hierarchy of institutions making up the academic establishment that will be need to be replaced in order meet the needs of primary and secondary education consumers. Just how would you train and certify a chemical engineer? And how would you deal with accessing basic writing skills and cultural knowledge created by liberal arts courses without becoming infected by the malignant wokeness found in most of today’s liberal arts colleges?

The article did have one line I would like to directly comment on.

“Every year, thousands of college students graduate and carry into society the same megalomaniacal confidence in their own righteousness that has turned campuses into zones of conformity.”

The author would have been well to have added a following sentence similar to this:

“Every year, hundreds of thousands, possibly over a million, college students graduate and carry into society their contempt and loathing for the “Woke” liberal philosophy and its advocates’ megalomaniacal confidence in their own righteousness that turned campuses into zones of conformity, intimidation, and indoctrination. They are joining a workforce of tens of millions who are equally fed up with Wokeness and its aggressive and unwelcome intrusion into every corner of corporate and private life. They are all waiting for the turn of the tide.”

[Robert DeLong]

They aren’t blind, it’s all by design. Remember that they were also brought up to believe this way as well.

[Qwapisking]

“The only way to make a bad idea seem like a good idea is to silence the good idea that shows just how bad the bad idea really is”.....L.Star