WHO ARE THE ANTI-SEMITIC DEMONSTRATORS?
Demonstrations have broken out against Israel, Jews generally, and for Palestinians around the world and especially at universities in the U.S. These are often photographed with many hijab-wearing woman near the front, but there are simply nowhere near as many Palestinians in this country to assemble such crowds.
So obviously there are others. Just who are they? First you have a coterie of old-school peace demonstrators who turn out for any war. But beyond that, and most significantly, these crowds are primarily composed of left-wing white radicals. These are the same sort of people we’ve seen at “anti-racist,” “anti-imperialist,” anti “fascist” BLM, anti-American, and anti-western demonstrations. They are the same ones that dominate American universities, even though they are far from a majority but possess a noise machine and “actions” that tend to intimidate even non-left liberal administrators, and who have managed to too often silence any opposition or other voices.
TIME FOR REFORM
I watched this university degradation accumulate over five decades, beginning with the 1960s generation who then became tenured radicals and undermined beyond repair the whole, supposedly open and rational undertaking. At this point things are so far gone that just having some newly and belatedly alarmed alumni withdraw support is simply not enough. A wholesale reconstruction and reform must take place, hopefully under the next administration. Thanks to the way the left has brought about government intrusion into more and more aspects of life, mostly via federal funding, followed by regulation on those funds, it will be possible to use these same tactics to undo all the damage they have done.
Then there is the sheer hypocrisy of people oh-so-committed to “social justice” participating in the most unjust, exploitative, labor situation anywhere, with much of the actual work shouldered by underpaid graduate students and adjunct faculty rather than the privileged professoriate.
American universities now enjoy a better reputation than they actually deserve, especially in supposedly “elite” quarters. Outside of science, engineering, music and art, “education” consists largely of basically bullshit courses and preposterous, laughable topics, reflecting narrow faculty interests, political brainwashing, intimidation, and far from vigorous standards. Tuition costs have skyrocketed far beyond the rate of inflation thanks largely to the massive infusion of federal funds and loans that have brought this all about.
Serious, challenging, traditional course requirements that were the basis of a solid education for centuries have been broadly abandoned, with few exceptions. They have been replaced by trivial, nonsensical, and otherwise useless courses resulting in a current college graduate population that is far less literate than a 19th century high school graduate. They have developed little in the way of critical faculties, and worse share alarming totalitarian sentiments.
Universities, whether private or public, have gotten a free pass for far too long. Under the guise of non-existent “academic freedom” they have claimed special rights that are unwarranted. They have been allowed to essentially regulate themselves via certifications, approvals, etc. We either have to disassemble the whole system and build it from scratch, or totally revamp what is funded and how. Why should those charged with one of the most important social functions have unaccountable, self-determined practices and standards, especially where taxpayer funds are involved. Therefore we can start with the following reforms:
- There must be national minimum standards for colleges and universities established independent of the direct participants.
- Federal funds will come with strings and new regulations just the same way the left filled them up with socially-conscious baloney, but now addressed to how the funds can be applied, what actions and processes are legitimate, etc. in the form of more rigorous requirements and basic standards and competencies.
- With many degrees that are useless, with many working at something other than what they studied, the continued reverence for them is misplaced. In fact if it were not a barrier to a better job and income it is probable that the university population would seriously decline. Consequently employers should be discouraged from “educational discrimination,” requiring degrees for no rational reason or in any way related to a job opening.
- Degrees are a symptom of excess “credentialism” across the board that needs to be reduced. It makes sense for say, a surgeon who is going to operate on you, but for many, if not most other things they are ludicrous and primarily serve the purpose of protecting the interests of practitioner guilds.
- With student loans, which should be less and less necessary, there should be greater accountability as to just what is being financed, at what cost, etc. within reasonable parameters. Banks don’t lend money without knowing what the actual use of it is going to be, and neither should the government.
—end part one—-
