Oh, the horror on American college campuses; the safe
spaces, the micro-aggressions. It is
even noticed internationally and – at least to some degree – more honestly reported
than it is domestically. The title of
this post is a quote that really encapsulates this sickness (for what else can
you call it?).
From Spiegel Online: Has
Political Correctness Gone off the Rails in America? by Philipp Oehmke. The setting is Oberlin College in Ohio:
Places like Oberlin are the
breeding grounds of the leftist elite Trump's people spoke so disparagingly of
during the election campaign.
Oberlin students have a reputation
for being notably "'left-leaning'".
There was a time that this resulted in protests against the
Vietnam War. Today it is a bit
different:
In 2013, after a string of racially
biased postings on campus, president Marvin Krislov cancelled classes in
response to student demands and called for a day of reflection and change.
Oberlin is also known for its
liberal attitude toward sexuality and gender expression. Oberlin was ranked
among the 20 friendliest campuses for LGBT students in The Advocate's College
Guide for LGBT Students.
Back to Spiegel and this sickness. Oehmke offers many examples at Oberlin of
manifestations of the disease; any one of these would cause me to disown
children.
He further identifies and defines many of the terms now in
vogue, for example:
Safe Spaces: a “space
that protects one from potentially insulting, injurious or traumatizing ideas
or comments -- a place, in short, that protects one from the world.”
Microaggressions
(someone tell Microsoft that spellcheck underlines this word in red): “the
conceptual cousins of "safe spaces" -- small remarks perceived by the
victims to be objectionable.”
Trigger warnings: “brief
indicators placed before a text, image, film or work of art alerting the viewer
or listener of the possibility that it could "trigger" memories of a
traumatic experience or the recurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Cultural appropriation:
when the cafeteria makes food from Africa that isn’t the way
great-great-great-great-grandma made it.
Cultural imperialism:
when the cafeteria makes food from Asia that isn’t the way
great-great-great-great-grandma made it.
Allyship: the way
a heterosexual white male can begin to make amends for his birth by demonstrating
empathy for an incorrectly made sandwich.
Social justice
warriors: “the guardians of political correctness.”
Oehmke cites Mark Lilla, a professor at Columbia University:
"The fixation on diversity in
our schools and in the press has produced a generation of liberals and
progressives narcissistically unaware of conditions outside their self-defined
groups," he wrote.
Like I said, it is a sickness.
Conclusion
Whoops! I almost
forgot: so which actor in this tragicomedy is the author of the quote used as the
title of my post?
Libertarianism is about getting to the
platinum rule – which is where you treat other people the way they want to be treated.
-
Nicholas
Sarwark, Libertarian Party Chairman (18th minute)
For those of you that want to treat me in accordance with my desires:
ReplyDelete1. Please refer to me as "Your excellency"
2. Prior to the start of any conversation I require a gift to be made. Nothing under 1oz of silver in value
3. I have arbitrary safe space requirements that don't fit traditional American customs & values and I expect you to know what those are and abide by them
4. Most importantly, I like to be routinely validated in a sincere manner upon the ending of any discussion.
Thank you in advance to Mr. Sarwark and all those that subscribe to said philosophy.
For the rest of you, I'd be happy if you just use my first name, Nick.
:)
I couldn't get past your first "desire" without losing my coffee.
DeleteFor starters:
DeleteI want treated (My definition of trated is:automatically upgraded) to Business Class for all domestic flights and First Class for all international flights.
and
I want to be treated to free beer!!!!!
Once we get these two it is up from there.