Brevity is the soul of wit.
did anyone read the whole article? At first I was interested, read a few scrolls, but when I saw that she goes on and on I just couldn't finish it.
The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
151–160 of 182 posts
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#152One thing that struck me from the piece (what I could read, before switching to skimming) was the implicit acceptance of the outsized power of Yale people. It sounded like the concern was that they acknowledge and wield this power well. I didn't see a question of whether they should have this power.
too bad Yale didn't teach the author that brevity is the soul of communicating.
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#153I think the author is ascribing too much intent to a simple economy of shame that’s omnipresent in all classes; if people find out you have more than they do, they hate you. The author herself appears to be biased by this. She believes that the “rich elites” have a great burden of responsibility towards the world, which she justifies with shaky zero sum logic that suggests that because they have more, they necessaril…
Well, by that logic, it should always have been this way. And yet, conspicuous consumption by the children of the ruling class, is not an historically unusual event. Pretending you're poor when you're very rich, while perhaps not unprecedented, is at least not the norm. So I think an explanation is called for, and hers is at the very least quite plausible. Whatever the reason, it would have to be something that is no…
Yalies have been "rich enough to play poor" at least since the 90s. I remember seeing the son of a prominent senator at a picnic with a hole in the sleeve of his old (but probably expensive) sweater and a local friend commenting that those Yalies always want to look poor.
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#154The articles contends the rich kids at Yale pretend to be poor to shirk the elite responsibilities, which then leads to deterioration of the elites. I find it doubtful that the kids have thought it through that far. A couple of more likely explanations come to mind: - Rebellious teenagers always want to establish independence from their parents. Giving up part of the money takes you part of the way there. - It's hard…
Hopefully the fight turns to sucking carbon out of the air and creating a sustainable future.
Fossil Free Yale kids are making a good effort, not mentioned in the article.
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/12/08/ypd-arrests-48-peo...
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#155I went to an English boarding school long enough ago for the intent of that system to still be to train the officer class of the British Empire. But not so long ago that it was actually practical for any of us to realistically be colonial administrators. This piece reminds me of that education. We were in the middle of the feminist and multi-cultural ideological revolutions. Being culturally aware; not insisting that…
I find it interesting that movements such as feminism and multiculturalism trace their roots to countries that hated the US, UK, etc supporting radical professors with intel assets, as a means of subversion.
Arguably, feminism and multiculturalism, as currently embodied, are weaponized memes meant to destroy a society.
Neither is supported by factual basis, and both rely heavily on emotionally manipulative propaganda tactics. Feminism has left men happier and women less happy than the social dynamics of the 1950s, while causing generational scale institutional misandry and breakdowns in relationships.
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#156Interesting piece although I don't think they represent the point of view of the agitators fairly, for example the author writes:
" you ask supporters, they will tell you the cost does not matter so much, because this is about creating an ideal world. Of course the professor should be fired—how dare she stand against the minority student organizations? Of course it’s okay that the Yelp reviews were published—she should never have written them. Of course names should be changed if they hint at or honor the wrong ideology. What does preserving history matter if history is racist? "
What does honouring someone who is extremely pro-slavery even for their time have to do with preserving history? That history still exists whether they have a building named after them or not. And I don't think you will honestly find many people who believe that the ends justify the means no matter what, although you will of course find some people who believe anything. So I think the "ideal world" bit is also somewhat a strawman and a mischaracterisation of people who are anti-racist or whatever.
I do however agree that a lot of this stuff doesn't really help those who need it most. The rich kids paying a 2% wealth tax funnelled into social welfare and education for the working class would do more, as would having Yale include more working and lower-middle class student. But it's easy for me to say as a white guy that having many buildings named after pro-slavery politicians is not really doing any harm. Maybe we should ask those who would be more effected.
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#157>But this low number of 2% surprised me because when I was at Yale, everybody kept talking about how broke they were. >“Want to go out for brunch?” “I can’t—I’m so broke.” This was a common line. Seems like a huge stretch to assume this is a lie. The 2% figure is for the bottom quintile. The same source says the median family income for Yale students is 192k. That's perfectly consistent with a student who's taking on…
My second child is starting at Yale this fall, and yes, the tuition struggle is real (trying to do it with no debt). My son has 3 summer jobs, and my daughter is moving off campus to save money. We might make that median this year, but only because I just took on a second job. They won't be posing when they can't go out for brunch -- not when that damned meal plan already took $9 for breakfast.
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#158In Christianity, you admit that you are flawed and wicked, but you can repent by accepting Christ as your lord and saviour, and by helping the poor and needy, and then carry on with your business, providing you publicly pour scorn on the unrepentant.
In Woke Studies, you admit that you are white and privileged, but you can repent by accepting Diversity as your lord and saviour, and then carry on with your business, providing you publicly pour scorn on the poor and needy white people who don't share your wokeness.
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
But taxes in the US are a lot less progressive than they used to be, so they come nowhere near taking care of that burden on their own. This is one of those “facts” that simply isn’t true. US taxes have become more progressive over time. Look at the first chart: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/02/the-s...
On the other hand, this chart: https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/taHyLEiwFvxZO4U3BfvmJ... The top percent or two are sucking up increasingly large amounts of GDP, and they're not paying taxes appropriate for being at that level. And capital gains taxes push the high end down even more.
That chart doesn’t tell you much at all. Who cares what the marginal rate is, if you’re allowed huge deductions (as was common back in the 1950’s).
That’s why the marginal rate was higher 40 years ago, but the amount of taxes collected was lower.
Re: The Problem at Yale Is Not Free Speech
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
When was the last time you read something longer than a tweet?
The author says "this story isn't about me" and yet spends 10 paragraphs telling a personal anecdote. Who said the problem at Yale is free speech? Is the audience supposed to know what he's talking about? I may never know because I too gave up.
Well, the author is a). she, and b). she tells a personal anecdote because she's about to write an article about her own experience at Yale.
So obviously she needs to present her bio in order to express the position from which she's seeing Yale.