I have listened to McKenna audio a handful of times over the years on YouTube. Never listened too closely; always classified him as a "new age-y" type of crank. And in full disclosure, it may be because the half dozen times I ate mushrooms or took ecstasy when I was in my early 20s, I never had an enjoyable experience. Maybe that was because I used it as a party drug, and all the people hanging around started to get on my nerves.
With that said, Nikita, I think you did a great job of framing the critiques of both the right and the left as it relates to higher education. And I will tell you that both critiques are fairly accurate. When I was at a second tier university in California in the '90s, I encountered the types of people that both the right and the left would lampoon. I knew rich kids who had a completely consumerist attitude toward their education. They were at university to have a good time, play intramural sports, hang out at the frat party, meet a girl, etc., knowing that a job at daddies' company awaited for them upon graduation. Learning anything was secondary to getting a credential that would help them in the marketplace, and they expected to have a great time while doing it. There were also the social justice types back then, who were heavily encouraged by the faculty, who wanted to drive social change even as they drove the late model BMWs that their parents bought them. At the end of the day, this type, rather than going into their daddies' business, ended up solidly middle class by working for a non-profit, in the education sector, etc.
Fast forward now, and I'm in my mid to late forties. My friendship group consists of mostly heterosexual couples with kids ranging in age from let's say 8 to 16. So everyone is starting to think about college for their kids. And the ones who are on the farther left seem to want their kids exposed to the antiracism you find as college campuses, but to the extent to which their son/daughter still acquires a credential to the middle class. The more centrist (no one would identify themselves as "right") folks see the "woke" elements of the college experience as a mildly irritating inconvenience that one must put up with while pursuing that same credential. What both groups have in common is the consumerist approach to higher education. I am paying so that my kid can have their credential that leads to the middle class. As Glenn alluded to, having state of the art dorms, swimming facilities, dining halls, etc., are, for these people, among the most important elements when committing to a college.
So if were to have to take a side on this, I would argue that the left's critique is probably more accurate. The consumerist, get a credential as a ticket to the middle class approach to education is probably most prevalent. A few parents may believe all of the woke nonsense their kids will invariably encounter. Other middle class parents see it as an irritating part of the system that must be coped with to get to the other side of the college degree. Either way, both sets of parents primarily view university as an instrumental end to the middle or upper middle class.
I have listened to McKenna audio a handful of times over the years on YouTube. Never listened too closely; always classified him as a "new age-y" type of crank. And in full disclosure, it may be because the half dozen times I ate mushrooms or took ecstasy when I was in my early 20s, I never had an enjoyable experience. Maybe that was because I used it as a party drug, and all the people hanging around started to get on my nerves.
With that said, Nikita, I think you did a great job of framing the critiques of both the right and the left as it relates to higher education. And I will tell you that both critiques are fairly accurate. When I was at a second tier university in California in the '90s, I encountered the types of people that both the right and the left would lampoon. I knew rich kids who had a completely consumerist attitude toward their education. They were at university to have a good time, play intramural sports, hang out at the frat party, meet a girl, etc., knowing that a job at daddies' company awaited for them upon graduation. Learning anything was secondary to getting a credential that would help them in the marketplace, and they expected to have a great time while doing it. There were also the social justice types back then, who were heavily encouraged by the faculty, who wanted to drive social change even as they drove the late model BMWs that their parents bought them. At the end of the day, this type, rather than going into their daddies' business, ended up solidly middle class by working for a non-profit, in the education sector, etc.
Fast forward now, and I'm in my mid to late forties. My friendship group consists of mostly heterosexual couples with kids ranging in age from let's say 8 to 16. So everyone is starting to think about college for their kids. And the ones who are on the farther left seem to want their kids exposed to the antiracism you find as college campuses, but to the extent to which their son/daughter still acquires a credential to the middle class. The more centrist (no one would identify themselves as "right") folks see the "woke" elements of the college experience as a mildly irritating inconvenience that one must put up with while pursuing that same credential. What both groups have in common is the consumerist approach to higher education. I am paying so that my kid can have their credential that leads to the middle class. As Glenn alluded to, having state of the art dorms, swimming facilities, dining halls, etc., are, for these people, among the most important elements when committing to a college.
So if were to have to take a side on this, I would argue that the left's critique is probably more accurate. The consumerist, get a credential as a ticket to the middle class approach to education is probably most prevalent. A few parents may believe all of the woke nonsense their kids will invariably encounter. Other middle class parents see it as an irritating part of the system that must be coped with to get to the other side of the college degree. Either way, both sets of parents primarily view university as an instrumental end to the middle or upper middle class.