Posted on 11/10/2004 3:16:36 AM PST by jalisco555
Ping
Great article! Really sums everything up nicely.
Bump.
Good article.
"If you disapprove of affirmative action, forget pursuing a degree in African-American studies. If you think that the nuclear family proves the best unit of social well-being, stay away from women's studies."
Few have made note of the fact, that the sheer numbers of far-lefties on campus is greatly enhanced by the existance of these new "disciplines". And sadly, industry seems to encourage people who pursue degrees in these areas by offering them extremely high-paying positions in order to appear as properly PC.
"Yet while the lack of conservative minds on college campuses is increasingly indisputable, the question remains: Why?"
An older person very familiar with Academia told me a few years ago that in the pre-60s era, colleges and universities were populated largely with conservative professors and in an attempt to live up to the goal of exposing all kinds of ideas in the educational arena, the decision was made to correct that imbalance. So, they began to fill openings with liberals. No one envisioned that the left was of an ilk to get the foot in the door, then to aggressively let their friends know immediately of any teacher openings as they came up and to push aggressively for those people to get the positions. Before long, they were a majority in academia and once a majority was reached they used their well known energy and aggression to root out the conservatives, once again creating a one-tract midset which would censor out ideas other than their own. Sheer reasoning would tell anyone with honest thinking that ideas which cannot stand exposure to debate should not prevail. This is what I was told. Knowing what we know about the left, it makes all kinds of sense.
Brilliant and true.
But that's the problem for the Left. If they open it up for honest debate, they will get they equivalent of John O'Neil of the Swiftvets laying out a calm case filled with facts, opposed by Lawrence O'Donnell foaming at the mouth shouting "Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies!"
Such a scenario will seriously impact the Left's attempts at brainwashing. The Left cannot debate on the basis of facts. And they know it.
Interesting article that seems to boil down to one conclusion: Liberalism is a mental disease caused by inbreeding. Liberals only talk to each other and don't explore any conservative thought with any sort of open mind. They have convinced themselves that they are the world's leading thinkers and that we conservatives are just off our rockers to believe otherwise.
Actually, that explains a lot.
Perhaps it's because you disagree with this sentiment from the article
Or when two postdocs from Germany at a nearby university stopped by my office to talk about American literature. As they sat down and I commented on how quiet things were on the day before Thanksgiving, one muttered, "Yes, we call it American Genocide Day."
Exactly.
I used to work in public higher ed (on the administrative side of the house). Later, I went to work for conservative public policy org. Unless we're talking private Christian university setting, it's not likely I could ever return. But then, I wouldn't want to. Public universities and colleges are so tragically mired in waste, fraud, and abuse.
Good article. I believe, though, things are changing. Harvey Mansfield was just elected to the board of the American Political Science Association; a conservative student of Leo Strauss. Strauss's other students are doing great work elsewhere: Thomas West, University of Dallas; Harry Jaffa, Claremont McKenna College; Thomas Pangle, University of Toronto etc. Other conservatives have great books out too; Henry Edmaondson, Georgia State; Lucas Morel, Washington and Lee. Buck up, things are changing, the left is dying.
Fortunately most of the students I knew ignored their leftist splutterings. But they do still affect many negatively. It seems to me that the academics with the least amount of analytical reasoning ability and common sense tend towards the liberal arts. In short most of the wackos get into sociology and other mostly useless avenues of study. Which as most readers on this forum know is pretty old news.
The "chairs" of these "colleges" are often funded through endowments. Think of the usual suspects supporting NPR, and you get some idea who is funding this BS. Thomas Sowell & Walter E. Williams have been very critical of the intellectual rigor found in these academic disciplines (and I use that term advisedly).
The embedding of political philosophy into a particular course of study is a very big problem. After all, who cares if your mathematics professor is a liberal? But try getting through a social science class with a liberal professor -- it's like negotiating a minefield.
Ping
As with organic systems, this isolation will cause their decline and fall.
And from the looks of some of the tenured "freaks" on campus, that fall is fast approaching. All but the most naive young students see them for what they are and ignore their nonsense.
There's also a draft-dodger factor.
Take a look at any given faculty in America. You'll find that many of them got their PhDs in the late '60s. They stayed in school not for intellectual pursuit, but to stay out of the war.
Many of them ended up on faculties, and choked the hiring system by their numbers. Closed the door on new hires for about 20 years at some places.
G,
You are dead-nuts on. That's a big reason I took an MA and fled without a PhD.
I work in higher ed, but in admin. Believe me, the assumptions this writer mentions are the same here as among faculty. Every meeting I go to I expect to find new arrogance and am rarely disappointed.
Matter of fact, I know I lost out on an opportunity here- I KNOW this, because I was at the meeting- because the school was under "alot of pressure" from the President to hire a non-white, non-male for the position.
Considering I am one of 2 men in this office of about 30 women, I'm not sure how THAT celebrated diversity, but my opinions can't count because they're not PC.
Besides, I have my white privilege to fall back on.
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