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Politics on Campuses

Reader comment on item: Harvard Loves Jihad

Submitted by Elizabeth Sachs (United States), Jun 24, 2002 at 10:10

If politics of political correctness are still what they were on Leftist and "Progressive" campuses as they were when I got my doctorate from UW-Madison in 1993, then they're thoroughly entrenched, and will not be easy to counteract, even when they sponsor (hopefully not very often, in the main?) something as deadly as Jihad.

I noticed many things about political correctness and badly-taught Socialist theory when I was at Madison, which make for a horrible brew. They're as follows:

1. Socialism as a theory and political structure is often badly, or at least variously, taught. Academic freedom means that professors can say pretty much what they want to say in classes, and students are often so culturally illiterate that they don't know enough to object. The "free flow of ideas" is a good thing on campuses, but only when it is apprehended by a critical audience. This critical audience doesn't usually exist, because

2. Not only are students often culturally illiterate, but they are contrained within institutionalized straight-jackets of Bad Leftist thinking, and gone-awry applications of affirmative action. (Sorry to sound reactionary, but Madison made me that way). Professors who are not aggressively politically correct are not hired. Often they aren't hired anyway, unless they profess or represent "historically disenfranchised or under-represented" populations in some assertive way. This is often the convenient drum they beat to win their onerous battles for tenure. Political correctness has become THE pipeline, in too many cases, toward hiring, and tenure. Were not most universities' budgets so stupidly constrained, hiring and retention might be more liberal, wide-ranging and fair. But it's not.

3. Criticism of bad ideology meets too often with charges of "Old-fashioned hegemonistic thinking." If one criticizes, say, the shallow and biased tripe dished out at a conference on "Multiculturalism and Transnationalism," which is the sort of conference that most-readily gets supported at universities, at least in the humanities, then one is categorized with wizened and crabby curmudgeons like Alan Bloom and others. One might receive the sotto voce congratulations of many who feel the same, at the cash bar after panels, but one will not be published, or hired, or befriended in a public way, very easily.

Personally, I think it's a miracle that more John Walkers do not already exist. The fact that many undergraduates do not immediately run off to join the Taliban to fight "arrogant, hegemonistic, mistaken, fat-and-destructive Uncle Sam is a testament to the relative un-salability, in a literal sense, of much of the ideology that many universities tout. "Unsalable," that is, except to professors themselves.

Not to be contradictory, but I'd also say "Don't blame the professors, because the buck can't stop with them." Professors usually aren't paid very much. If they get hired full-time at all, it is only after a bruising and seemingly-endless journey-person status as beaten-up graduate students, and starving adjunct workers. They will NOT, easily, compromise their hard-won security (IF you can count "security" to mean a ~40K salary start in an expensive metropolitan area) by flying banners of truth in the face of political correctness.

University presidents, administrators in high positions: these are ones who can make a real difference, and lead the charge against what's run amok in higher education.

My Two Cents
Submitting....

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Reader comments (71) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
It hasn't Stopped [154 words]Wallace BrandJun 23, 2012 01:56196552
More on Judging Islam by secular standards [406 words]PrashantJun 26, 2011 14:35186813
please. [85 words]Zita DeanJul 16, 2010 11:21175660
jihad [528 words]zehnab hussainNov 21, 2007 06:55114231
harvard LOVES JIHAD [137 words]Danica BelicDec 6, 2005 01:0029497
Educational institutions [237 words]Mark ErsckoffDec 20, 2002 18:445016
I would urge you to rethink your comments [165 words]Meyrem HusseinNov 7, 2002 07:083702
I rethought your naive comments [237 words]DredFeb 22, 2006 18:463702
I would Urge you to re-think your comments--Harvard Loves Jihad-Meyrem Hussein [251 words]AnneJul 21, 2008 22:593702
Harvard is a disgrace! [14 words]DamienOct 2, 2002 13:312851
2'Kital' is war, not Jihad. [196 words]A. AhmadoSep 14, 2002 06:462469
If all professors were like Pipes... [21 words]Klee GluckmanJun 27, 2002 09:211059
Another radical chic buffoon [124 words]Chauncey MunsonJun 26, 2002 18:271043
Finding Power in Lies [141 words]Vicki KessJun 26, 2002 00:19983
Harvard Supports Terror [22 words]Oleg LisakJun 24, 2002 11:35918
Politics on Campuses [538 words]Elizabeth SachsJun 24, 2002 10:10914
Thoughts on "Jihad" and the current crisis. [672 words]AnonymousJun 22, 2002 18:44905
Flunking the Pipes Analogies Test [477 words]Gil ReyesJun 21, 2002 16:07895
2Did anyone read the speech [185 words]Ali ChaudreyJun 20, 2002 10:09886
Boot camps for the right wing on campuses? [95 words]CatmannJun 25, 2011 03:13886
I guess a lot of things do repeat themselves. [169 words]CharlesJun 19, 2002 04:51859
Response to Alex ("You sound as bad as those you point the finger at") [269 words]Robert ArsenaultJun 18, 2002 20:14851
Response to "The Only True Religion" [169 words]Robert ArsenaultJun 17, 2002 10:02817
1Charlemagne and 911 [560 words]Robert MikanJun 17, 2002 00:19810
Cruising for a Boycott [42 words]Ben ShniperJun 16, 2002 17:57806
Hyperbole (albeit alliterative)... [110 words]Matt HarrisJun 15, 2002 23:02790
You are a breath of fresh air! [56 words]Robert G. MogullJun 15, 2002 20:03789
"Academic Freedom" [59 words]Bob KaplanJun 15, 2002 15:06786
The Meaning of Jihad , Let no Islamic propagandists mislead you [271 words]Jacob, the CoptJun 15, 2002 09:37782
I agree [18 words]rafael zeligzonJun 13, 2002 18:03761
And that's Not All.... [84 words]Bruce CramerJun 13, 2002 16:01756
Not so fast [414 words]Stephen WaltonJun 13, 2002 12:48749
They have. What will we do about it? [148 words]Joe KatzmanJun 13, 2002 07:18742
No Sense of Responsibility [64 words]John JohnsonJun 12, 2002 22:56737
Militant Muslim Hatred [98 words]Paul M. NevilleJun 12, 2002 21:23735
Too Much Tolerance [115 words]Robert ArsenaultJun 12, 2002 19:54734
Book Smart? [27 words]Mark FeldsteinJun 12, 2002 18:09733
Your sound as bad as those you point the finger at [165 words]AlexJun 12, 2002 18:05732
The "L" Word [191 words]Raymond LowJun 12, 2002 17:55731
Definition of Jihad [38 words]Peaceful MuslimJun 12, 2002 16:59728
Sickens me, but does not surprise me [69 words]Darrel DuplechainJun 12, 2002 14:33724
Bravo [86 words](Mrs.) Tybee ZuckermanJun 12, 2002 14:25723
Looking in the Rear View Mirror [303 words]Howard SchechterJun 12, 2002 14:18722
Defund Leftists [124 words]Jack LynchJun 12, 2002 13:09715
Airheads in Universities [139 words]Raymond HartleyJun 12, 2002 12:58714
Liberal souls bring down democracy [166 words]Lawrence McLeroyJun 12, 2002 12:55713
Is There Any Stopping Them? [66 words]Critical MassJun 12, 2002 11:47709
Harvard [72 words]Judy LeBlancJun 12, 2002 11:10706
It's time to draw the line. [227 words]Russell JohnsonJun 12, 2002 10:45705
but what about the speech? [57 words]Jerome LangerJun 12, 2002 10:09704
Pipes promotes clarity [9 words]Ben CreechJun 12, 2002 09:44703
Right on! [134 words]Steven GrantJun 12, 2002 08:47701
Harvard Jihad [16 words]KevinJun 12, 2002 08:25700
Anti-Semitism Left and Right [300 words]Marcus Tullius CiceroJun 12, 2002 08:11699
Osama bin Smith [212 words]christianto wibisonoJun 12, 2002 04:03695
Why are we surprised? [85 words]ProudlyJun 12, 2002 02:29693
I wonder [45 words]AliJun 12, 2002 01:38690
Jihad is the danger [439 words]Charbel BarakatJun 11, 2002 22:11689
At Least Someone...or two or three.... [137 words]Charles GoebelJun 11, 2002 22:09688
harvard loves Jihad [73 words]jmJun 11, 2002 20:42687
Harvard faculty gets an F [73 words]Rusty RivetJun 11, 2002 20:38685
Harvard Loves Jihad [150 words]Irving D. CohenJun 11, 2002 19:54682
Palestinian suicide bombers aren't enemies of the US [173 words]PseudoerasmusJun 11, 2002 17:47678
Once Again, You are Correct [130 words]Terrall PutnamJun 11, 2002 15:27673
What it will take for Harvard to change [80 words]John MaloneyJun 11, 2002 12:37668
Educating the Educators [147 words]Charlie TaubJun 11, 2002 12:07663
American Jihad [23 words]Norman RosenblattJun 11, 2002 12:02662
Win Win [152 words]Mark D RansomJun 11, 2002 11:38659
The Only True Religion [72 words]anonymous-flipJun 11, 2002 11:00655
Harvard's Thin Veneer [47 words]Peter CollinsJun 11, 2002 10:52653
What Were They Thinking? [91 words]Steven HessJun 11, 2002 10:17652

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