Academia: Freedom is spreading too fast
Reader comment on item: Defund Middle East Studies

Submitted by Jonathan Pfeffer, Feb 24, 2004 at 11:23

Why has academia in the United States been such fertile ground for America's enemies yet so hostile to American ideals.

When America was founded in the late 18th century, the early champions of its cause confidently touted this bold new way of life as the ideal way to live. Not for just Americans but for all people. "Life. Liberty and Pursuit of happiness" was its ultimate expression. In the early days, the US was vulnerable and weak, so at the time, Americans focused on building a great nation at home and pretty much ignored the rest of the world. Who would have thought that as the United States grew and towered over the world two centuries later a new brake from within would be imposed on US power. There seems to be a determination by American academics, not to spread their great ideals to a world that seems to need it more than ever. Perhaps academia doesn't want a world were all ideologies are flattened into one great freedom loving ideology without conflict, a western democratic tradition that takes over the world and ends history as we know it. It is as if they are saying, we in the west have contributed enough, let's cool it, let the other ideologies catch up and challenge us. Or perhaps they have taken a page from biology; rather than bio-diversity, they encourage, ideo-diversity.

This determination that I speak of, perhaps one could call it, "don't corrupt the oppressive ideologies of the world" or perhaps "freedom laissez fair-ism". Academia in the US seems to be terrified by the uncontrollable spread of freedom. Like an out of control wildfire, freedom promoted by the US now threatens to enlighten the Arabs. Academia must figure that this force must be stopped at all costs, therefore, it is understandable why they welcome every barbarous Muslim Arab that has a bone to pick with America and America's insatiable appetite for freeing oppressed people.

The Jews of Israel are a particular problem for academia. Israel is perceived as the US's agent in the Middle East. Israel's normally open borders, immodestly clad people, free elections, free press etc, etc, imposes a terrible dilemma for the so-called "liberal" academics of the United States. How can academics deny, what they take for granted, to others, and somehow not draw to much attention to this hypocrisy? The solution, overplay the boundary dispute that the two parties, Israel and Palestinians are mired in. Overstate the Palestinian historical claim to the point that it completely overshadows the obvious clash between a democratic society Israel, and a thugocracy Palestine.

Does academia fear the flattened of the world's ideological landscape into one world-view where freedom and democracy is assumed to be normal. Does academia really want to encourage the clumpyness of diverse ideologies whereby freedom and democracy are merely attributes enjoyed by only some ideologies?

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