"I think we need commitment from the top." Good luck with that because until "the top" starts acting like it runs the place instead of cowering to students, nothing is going to change. Worse, the poison that is being brewed on campus has already seeped into the post-college world with predictably bad effects.
It's not that some faculty are being challenged or questioned; it's that they are being openly attacked, reported on, with pushes for their firing in more cases than anyone wants to admit to. In a different context, that would be called a hostile work environment. It's 2023 and there are people who act like it's 1923, and that sort of thinking is tolerated instead of being mocked, as it deserves to be.
Ms. Stimpson's argument is so convoluted that it essentially ties her into knots. She points to there being more women on campus than before and right after that, wonders about schools correcting "historic injustices," which enrollment figures say has happened organically. She then wonders about a school's duty to have "all people of talent" represented but comes from a place where at least one group of talented people is intentionally marginalized. She can't have it both ways.
It's interesting to see a 'slippery' or nebulous quality in one side of this discussion. I think this is actually what gives Wokeness its power. Glenn tries to pin questions down so that they can be discussed. His interlocutor seems to avoid getting down to specifics. This gives Wokeness its armour. As I wrote in a piece which argues that you cannot push back against a wraith.
I've been reading Days of Rage (about the "revolutionary" movements of the 70s) and was struck by how the language the radical left used has not changed a bit since the days of the Weatherman and Black Panthers. And if anything, it's been canonized by humanities departments across the country, especially sociology. Racist, fascist, sexist, imperialist, colonialist, oppressor... it's like the radical lexicon hasn't been updated in 60 years. I guess those words cut deep in a liberal society that takes its commitment to individual rights seriously, and can be used to short circuit otherwise functional brains and make them agree with the craziest ideas available.
Very interesting debate in 1991 and great follow up interview! Political correctness has become wokeness. Just as it was opposed then it must be opposed now. The difference is that today there are more people willing to stick their necks out and expose themselves to a firing line of adversaries. Nevertheless this is a war that must be fought and won.
Bravo young Glenn! This Cuban-American arrived at Cornell University in 1981 to find the PC battles raging. In hindsight the era represented the drawing of battles lines. The PC arguments struck me as absurd at the time and we had some good laughs. Little did I think these skirmishes would give birth to the pitch battles we are living through today. In 1981 a negotiated peace might have still been possible, today the trenches are deeper and weapons such as social media have made the battles far deadlier and more consequential. The civilized back and forth of your Firing Line video is difficult to watch. Not because of any shortcomings of the participants or embarrassing gaffes. No.. it's the very idea of people carrying on a debate that presupposes some basic cultural norms such as, intellectual honesty, civility, joy in making cogent arguments appealing to intelligence. You know... the things we thought as the birthright of those of us born in the light of Western Civilization. I feel like I am watching a debate in ancient Athens. I don't think a debate like that would be possible on today's college campuses without violence breaking out. The very premise of the back and forth seems quaint. My difficulty is rooted in anxiety and the knowledge that what I am watching belongs to an era which I may never see again in my lifetime.
Whoever put the video together did a great job. I was interested only in Dr. Loury's clips and that's precisely what we got. That was fun. (I will watch the Margaret Hoover appearance in full later.)
Random thoughts: Stimpson lacked modern tactical weapons. She did not once call you a Nazi, transphobe, Russian, or insurrectionist.
The idea of courageously standing up to students seems quaint. If you stand up to students these days you get fired. Who am I kidding? You can be fired for random, innocuous remarks for which you apologize and grovel.
The question positing that students might be right 25 percent of the time brought a smile. Modern science has taught us they are right 100 percent of the time once we account for lived experience.
I made many notes as I listened. Too many to discuss here. Now I'm off to watch the full Hoover interview.
I was one of those politically correct fools. My dad had me read Eric Hoffer’s “The True Believer” at 16 and had a long talk with me about the fragility of the freedom we enjoy in the West. It simmered until about four years ago when the light dawned and the creeping totalitarianism of wokeness/political correctness became clear. I give my dad huge credit for having an impact by teaching me to think for myself even when it costs.
The most similar historical moment is 1966, when the cultural revolution destroyed China, one of the world's oldest civilizations. We must counter the cultural revolution, or else our civilization will also fall: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/counter-the-cultural-revolution
Signing in to the link I hope. Bad case of laryngitis. Hope it’s ok to contact you when I can speak.
True Heroes only come around once a century or more, and Dr. Glenn Loury is a Bona Fide Hero.
"I think we need commitment from the top." Good luck with that because until "the top" starts acting like it runs the place instead of cowering to students, nothing is going to change. Worse, the poison that is being brewed on campus has already seeped into the post-college world with predictably bad effects.
It's not that some faculty are being challenged or questioned; it's that they are being openly attacked, reported on, with pushes for their firing in more cases than anyone wants to admit to. In a different context, that would be called a hostile work environment. It's 2023 and there are people who act like it's 1923, and that sort of thinking is tolerated instead of being mocked, as it deserves to be.
Ms. Stimpson's argument is so convoluted that it essentially ties her into knots. She points to there being more women on campus than before and right after that, wonders about schools correcting "historic injustices," which enrollment figures say has happened organically. She then wonders about a school's duty to have "all people of talent" represented but comes from a place where at least one group of talented people is intentionally marginalized. She can't have it both ways.
It's interesting to see a 'slippery' or nebulous quality in one side of this discussion. I think this is actually what gives Wokeness its power. Glenn tries to pin questions down so that they can be discussed. His interlocutor seems to avoid getting down to specifics. This gives Wokeness its armour. As I wrote in a piece which argues that you cannot push back against a wraith.
I've been reading Days of Rage (about the "revolutionary" movements of the 70s) and was struck by how the language the radical left used has not changed a bit since the days of the Weatherman and Black Panthers. And if anything, it's been canonized by humanities departments across the country, especially sociology. Racist, fascist, sexist, imperialist, colonialist, oppressor... it's like the radical lexicon hasn't been updated in 60 years. I guess those words cut deep in a liberal society that takes its commitment to individual rights seriously, and can be used to short circuit otherwise functional brains and make them agree with the craziest ideas available.
21:21
Mic drop.
Very interesting debate in 1991 and great follow up interview! Political correctness has become wokeness. Just as it was opposed then it must be opposed now. The difference is that today there are more people willing to stick their necks out and expose themselves to a firing line of adversaries. Nevertheless this is a war that must be fought and won.
Bravo young Glenn! This Cuban-American arrived at Cornell University in 1981 to find the PC battles raging. In hindsight the era represented the drawing of battles lines. The PC arguments struck me as absurd at the time and we had some good laughs. Little did I think these skirmishes would give birth to the pitch battles we are living through today. In 1981 a negotiated peace might have still been possible, today the trenches are deeper and weapons such as social media have made the battles far deadlier and more consequential. The civilized back and forth of your Firing Line video is difficult to watch. Not because of any shortcomings of the participants or embarrassing gaffes. No.. it's the very idea of people carrying on a debate that presupposes some basic cultural norms such as, intellectual honesty, civility, joy in making cogent arguments appealing to intelligence. You know... the things we thought as the birthright of those of us born in the light of Western Civilization. I feel like I am watching a debate in ancient Athens. I don't think a debate like that would be possible on today's college campuses without violence breaking out. The very premise of the back and forth seems quaint. My difficulty is rooted in anxiety and the knowledge that what I am watching belongs to an era which I may never see again in my lifetime.
What a brilliant and appropriate debate, for then and for now! Thank you for resurrecting this gem.
Whoever put the video together did a great job. I was interested only in Dr. Loury's clips and that's precisely what we got. That was fun. (I will watch the Margaret Hoover appearance in full later.)
Random thoughts: Stimpson lacked modern tactical weapons. She did not once call you a Nazi, transphobe, Russian, or insurrectionist.
The idea of courageously standing up to students seems quaint. If you stand up to students these days you get fired. Who am I kidding? You can be fired for random, innocuous remarks for which you apologize and grovel.
The question positing that students might be right 25 percent of the time brought a smile. Modern science has taught us they are right 100 percent of the time once we account for lived experience.
I made many notes as I listened. Too many to discuss here. Now I'm off to watch the full Hoover interview.
Woke liberals like Hoover will never understand, similarly in 1991, nor do they want to. Bow before the new Gods, peasants!
Stop funding these sewer holes if ignorance, arrogance and intolerance and maybe the left will get the message.
You know you screwed up when you're on the same side of the debate as Bill Buckley and Dinesh D'Looser. History has not been kind, to say the least.
The grey suit with the high pitched voice wanted nothing to do with that question.
Watch Simpson flaring of her teeth.
I was one of those politically correct fools. My dad had me read Eric Hoffer’s “The True Believer” at 16 and had a long talk with me about the fragility of the freedom we enjoy in the West. It simmered until about four years ago when the light dawned and the creeping totalitarianism of wokeness/political correctness became clear. I give my dad huge credit for having an impact by teaching me to think for myself even when it costs.
The most similar historical moment is 1966, when the cultural revolution destroyed China, one of the world's oldest civilizations. We must counter the cultural revolution, or else our civilization will also fall: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/counter-the-cultural-revolution