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Prism

(5,815 posts)

30. The people who need to read this won't

Wed Jun 3, 2015, 02:45 PM

Jun 2015

This has been a bugaboo of mine for a few years now. I'm a pretty liberal guy, especially in areas of social justice, but for the past five years I've felt increasingly alienated from the online politics of social justice. (Notice, I said online. Offline, a lot of this doesn't get absorbed in the actual work. And I promise you, most of the people involved online are doing fuck all offline to make any difference).

Feelings and identity have now trumped arguments in our debate. You literally cannot say anything at all without being accused of an ism. And it's worrisome that academia, where we pay tens of thousands of dollars precisely to have our children challenged, is now becoming an enclave where the preformed thoughts of adolescents are being accommodated and surrendered to.

Just say Social Justice Warrior on DU, and you'll get "What are you, some kind of MRA?!!!!!!1111 BLARGHKJHDzfkjdhfkzjdhf!!!!"

Which really illustrates the point. It's emotional invective, not intellectual discourse.

I was actually going to post this article, but didn't. Because I can only imagine the flurry of reactions. "MRA! Poor white men! Male tears! Right-wing!" etc. etc. etc. Is there an argument against? Nope. Just label and consider that argument enough. Hell, just yesterday, we got fantasies of burning male genitals with nary a thought or blink. Because men!

I think left-leaning social justice politics online has gone profoundly stupid. It's a vomiting of some kind of collective, insecure id.

Ugly stuff, and it's suffocating our intellectual and social development. This shit does not sell to people outside of tumblrville and the protected halls of an academia terrorized into compliance. But, the effects of the echo chamber are strong, and it's probably got another couple years in it before the backlash comes.

And guess who will be the victims of that backlash? Who will pay the price? Minorities. Bank on it.

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I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me (xpost from Good Reads) [View all] KamaAina Jun 2015 OP

how does he know which of his students are liberals. sender's name redacted and would any liberal Romeo.lima333 Jun 2015 #1

That's the contrast case. He's not saying THAT student was liberal alcibiades_mystery Jun 2015 #13

oh ok thanks for the clarification Romeo.lima333 Jun 2015 #17

The OP is confusing on that. eom rogerashton Jun 2015 #37

Communistical ellie Jun 2015 #2

Many "liberals" terrify me as well. Maedhros Jun 2015 #3

Those aren't liberals - they're neo-conservatives who don't understand the difference leveymg Jun 2015 #5

They certainly insist they're liberals, Maedhros Jun 2015 #8

You haven't been called a socialist yet? Or a left libertarian? merrily Jun 2015 #79

Has "left libertarian" become an insult? If only there were more left libertarians. Vattel Jun 2015 #81

The goal seems to be to associate DU's left with "the other," merrily Jun 2015 #82

I see. Well I think we should reclaim the word "purist" and turn it into a compliment. Vattel Jun 2015 #83

Good luck with that. "Even "principle" is apparently a negative word. merrily Jun 2015 #84

God forbid anyone should have principles. It might make them Vattel Jun 2015 #85

Having principles is apparently an ugly thing. Close relative of purist. merrily Jun 2015 #88

Me too MindPilot Jun 2015 #23

"We came, we saw, he died." Maedhros Jun 2015 #29

Editing due to all the correcting :) arcane1 Jun 2015 #4

I was wondering the same thing el_bryanto Jun 2015 #6

Yeah, that really didn't make a whole lot of sense. MindPilot Jun 2015 #9

He doesn't...read the article alcibiades_mystery Jun 2015 #14

II suggest actually reading the article and not just the excerpts. Comrade Grumpy Jun 2015 #18

Yeah, he seems to be worried about hypothetical liberals acting like assholes. arcane1 Jun 2015 #19

No so hypothetical. We see this happen on DU all the time. GoneOffShore Jun 2015 #39

No, he didn't say that student was liberal. TexasMommaWithAHat Jun 2015 #67

Maybe the professor didn't "Liberal" in the political sense.... Sheepshank Jun 2015 #7

"communistical" = not college material. moondust Jun 2015 #10

So he got called into the office because he taught that the economic collapse was caused by poor jwirr Jun 2015 #11

It's the opposite: he was teaching that is WASN'T caused by poor black people: arcane1 Jun 2015 #12

That's not what he's saying alcibiades_mystery Jun 2015 #16

Got it. arcane1 Jun 2015 #20

This is the big issue in some areas of academe right now alcibiades_mystery Jun 2015 #22

Thanks for the links! I think I need to read up and get some context here. arcane1 Jun 2015 #24

The Laura Kipnis situation is totally unreal Prism Jun 2015 #33

I was about to link to the second story you linked to. Ms. Toad Jun 2015 #45

I missed that - Sorry. jwirr Jun 2015 #25

Worry not, I missed a good two-thirds of the articles points arcane1 Jun 2015 #26

I would be mad at the teacher as well Mnpaul Jun 2015 #97

I hear Heritage Foundation regurgitated talking points from Cleita Jun 2015 #15

As I posted in the other thread on this topic seabeckind Jun 2015 #21

Blaming the students for management problems? Downwinder Jun 2015 #27

Children of the third way corn. nt raouldukelives Jun 2015 #28

I like it and offer up Close Encounters of the Third Way Kind or maybe, HornBuckler Jun 2015 #57

The people who need to read this won't Prism Jun 2015 #30

Tip: If you have to protect your post with "I'm a liberal", you aren't. jeff47 Jun 2015 #41

Actually, people do need to preface it now Prism Jun 2015 #43

Again, policies don't need protection by labels. jeff47 Jun 2015 #44

I think you mean "opinion" not "policy" romanic Jun 2015 #87

Social Security is a policy. "I like Social Security" is an opinion. (nt) jeff47 Jun 2015 #92

I agree with you. Comrade Grumpy Jun 2015 #60

Excellent post. romanic Jun 2015 #75

A generation of special snowflakes raised on participation ribbons Oktober Jun 2015 #31

Now that is a keeper! Township75 Jun 2015 #66

My bs meter just pinged. ananda Jun 2015 #32

Nope. NCLB and the conservative war on education budgets are what is terrifying this lecturer. n/t Orsino Jun 2015 #34

This part right here got my attention tkmorris Jun 2015 #35

Nailed it. GoneOffShore Jun 2015 #38

Definitely romanic Jun 2015 #74

Uh huh... whatchamacallit Jun 2015 #36

So he's saying the students hurt his feelings? DemocraticWing Jun 2015 #40

Did you actually read the article or are you just taking your stance from the excerpt? GoneOffShore Jun 2015 #42

I've read the article and the similar ones. DemocraticWing Jun 2015 #93

+1 F4lconF16 Jun 2015 #98

That's a cherry picking observation GoneOffShore Jun 2015 #99

You seem to be very paranoid about the motives of certain peoples. DemocraticWing Jun 2015 #100

I really have difficulty in believing that you read and comprehended the article. GoneOffShore Jun 2015 #103

I read the "Schlosser" article even before it was posted here... DemocraticWing Jun 2015 #104

I would argue that the threat is real. GoneOffShore Jun 2015 #105

You might want to choose a different excerpt. Ms. Toad Jun 2015 #46

Maybe, just maybe. . . Springslips Jun 2015 #47

Someone needs to find out who this asshole is and get his silly ass fired AngryAmish Jun 2015 #48

Please elaborate. Why should he be fired? Comrade Grumpy Jun 2015 #61

He is creating an unsafe enviroment on his campus. AngryAmish Jun 2015 #63

Oh, you were joking. I hope you're not serious. Comrade Grumpy Jun 2015 #64

If hurting someone's feelings is material injury, then the Republicans can accuse gay people... AZ Progressive Jun 2015 #49

I have seen that very argument, in every detail hifiguy Jun 2015 #65

I'm bookmarking this to post when people ask kiva Jun 2015 #50

That's what it was about, all right. Warpy Jun 2015 #52

I was never a "real" professor MosheFeingold Jun 2015 #55

That does seem to have become more prominent in the last few years, I agree. Marr Jun 2015 #51

Those questions didn't come from liberal students. DisgustipatedinCA Jun 2015 #53

Yes, there's a touch of ignorance to that statement Oilwellian Jun 2015 #54

Read the whole article NT Ex Lurker Jun 2015 #56

Thanks. I had only read the excerpt. Now I've read the article. DisgustipatedinCA Jun 2015 #58

yup Skittles Jun 2015 #80

This is horseshit. I've been teaching for 26 years. 6000eliot Jun 2015 #59

I stopped reading at Jonathan Chait Starry Messenger Jun 2015 #62

Cultural experiences? kiva Jun 2015 #69

No. Starry Messenger Jun 2015 #70

Exactly. boston bean Jun 2015 #86

Did you read this article? kiva Jun 2015 #94

Yes, I read the entire article. Wasted 10 minutes of my time in doing so. boston bean Jun 2015 #96

Those remarks do not appear to come from liberals. PowerToThePeople Jun 2015 #68

You didn't read the whole article. Did you? TexasMommaWithAHat Jun 2015 #71

I did. n/t PowerToThePeople Jun 2015 #72

I don't think Vox is a right wing think tank propaganda site. KamaAina Jun 2015 #73

That's the thing with these polls that talk about "liberals" this and "liberals" that. Bonobo Jun 2015 #76

Bullshit. Weird definition of "liberal" this alleged prof has. merrily Jun 2015 #77

Thank you for posting this. Many of the replies are illustrative of what he is saying CBGLuthier Jun 2015 #78

I've read the whole article. Now that I've got that out of the way. kcr Jun 2015 #89

These folks aren't "liberal".. sendero Jun 2015 #90

I had to read the whole article LWolf Jun 2015 #91

This is the left-wing version of hifiguy Jun 2015 #95

Let me say something as one of those solipsistic, narcisstic, bullshit spewing goddamn kids today. DemocraticWing Jun 2015 #101

And the rebuttal... Scootaloo Jun 2015 #102