Moral Purity

It is wonderful to die for a cause ... any cause! — Voltaire’s tutor

In a perverse sort of way, one has to admire our younger generations who are violently agitating for our moral purity: no more bad cops, no venerating of statues to those who owned slaves or tolerated slavery, compassionate remediation for the income disparities that exist is our country today, hatred for those living a life of white privilege, denying anyone in the world immigration entry into our despicable country, keeping otherwise peaceful minorities incarcerated far beyond what their offenses dictate, dictatorial oppression of peaceful protest. ... even if they involve looting or arson.

All these national injustices need to be remedied ... immediately, no backtracking! “Else we will burn the system down!” All the while conveniently ignoring hundreds of other injustices of equal or greater consequence.

Yes, this naive idealism is kinda admirable ... if misdirected and dangerous ... as a result of indoctrination by ivory-tower pedagogues who have never lived a life that would belie their own fuzzy-headed [im]moral sophistry.

Gobbledygook

Professors and other hanger-ons in higher education communicate in tongues ... they have an unique way of forming ideas that are full of erudite phraseology but carry actual meaning only in the befogged minds of these pedagogues. Paul Mirengoff of the Powerline blog has uncovered a set of mission statements for a number of new professors hired at Dartmouth College that can do nothing but support this gobbledygook notion ... and should bring you, dear readers, a good bit of mirth. Here's a teaser sample:

How is queer intellectual design an intrinsic part of transnational knowledge production in the cultural sphere?

Enjoy this sidetrack into the ivy-covered ivory towers and see if you can actually decipher what these newly-hired liberal (but with a big L) edu-twits are actually saying ... see: Powerline Blog.

Afterward: My wife's comment ... "and for this many parents are spending $60,000+ a year?"

Firing Squad

I have previously written about the threat to the American fraternity system based upon the gang rape accusation at a University of Virginia fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, as published in Rolling Stone magazine. This resulted in the president of this university closing down all fraternities there until next Spring ... see: The Alpha of the Omega. Now we learn that this magazine's article, which never had checked with the fraternity in question, is beginning to unravel as many of its revelations are unable to be verified ... see: Enews Article.

This non-scandal is quite reminiscent of the Duke University lacrosse team scandal of a few years back which blew up in the faces of many of the professors and administration at this other "prestigious" southern university when lie after lie was exposed. We "broad-minded" liberal-educated erudites too often critique the Ferguson riots or the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations as resulting from a mob mentality ... but somehow ignore this same mindless behavior in ourselves or in those in whom we have vested authority. Sometimes we form the firing squad well before even the trial is held.

It does seem that liberal pedagogues have a penchant to follow that age-old adage, "fire, ready, aim."

Afterward: See also John Hinderaker's article in The Powerline Blog.