The Miseducation of Americas Elites
bariweiss.substack.com
The Miseducation of Americas Elites
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Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#2Meanwhile in the Midwest, we are having BBQs outdoors and feeling quite sorry for these “progressive” coastal communities too educated to figure out how to resist their own puritanical tendencies.
The amount of fear they are living under is quite sad.
Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#3This really sounds like late Communist Czechoslovakia to me, where lying at school was an obvious norm, everyone knew what was publicly unspeakable and which one of your colleagues was a snitch.
The difference is that by late 1980s there were few true believers. Those who held the power and dictated the indoctrination standards were mostly tired pragmaticists who were in power to be in power and little else. There were some people brainwashed enough to believe in theory of Communism, but (unlike in the early 1950s, when Communism intrigued a lot of young intellectuals), they were mostly the stupid ones.
It is horribly fascinating for me to see this replayed in America of all places, but with a distributed, socially enforced political policing instead of a powerful secret police like StB and Stasi. Some people seem to have a powerful authoritarian impulse in them. And obviously they have found a way to crush dissent even without a large governmental oppressive apparatus.
The trouble is that things have changed. If you dissented in Communism or doubted its value, the Western world was an obvious, freer and richer alternative. Where will current and future American dissenters find an alternative to a toxic feed of critical race theory being elevated to a state creed?
The main opposing power is (shudder) China. This really feels like a choice between Sauron and Saruman. I am not sure if Europe can escape from the roof of Isengard, like Gandalf once did. At least plenty of us see the reality for what it is - an ugly attempt to build a racialized dystopia on a base of post-BLM moral panic.
Edit: now sitting at -2 without even an attempt at a rebuttal.
Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#4When Bari Weiss was a student at Columbia, she was part of a group that targeted Arab professors that criticized Israel, like Joseph Massad. She did a lot to foster "cancel culture", but it seems to be backfiring on her now.
Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#5I feel sorry for these people that can afford to send their kids literally anywhere have to make the decision about whether they should continue supporting the elitist system that they rode to the top, now that they found something they disagree with.
You don’t like that the school is teaching that capitalism is wrong? Do the capitalist thing and vote with your wallet, send your kids somewhere else. If you don’t like that the school is teaching that racism is a problem, then find a school where that isn’t an emphasis. I strongly suspect (based on me knowing how these articles get written and how parents groups misinterpret everything) that the racism curriculum is exaggerated in this article anyway. But regardless, if you don’t like the elite curriculum in California and New York, there are 48 other states you could move to and find a good school. I’m sure some states have fine institutions of learning without all that progressive nonsense, if you could be bothered to disgrace yourself and move there.
Edit, rather than making another comment: and maybe it’s a good thing the school is indirectly teaching kids to shut their mouths and not share a viewpoint that they know is unpopular. I share my opinion freely on the internet but at work I have to pick and choose what I say about our projects. This is good education.
Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#6This really sounds like late Communist Czechoslovakia to me, where lying at school was an obvious norm, everyone knew what was publicly unspeakable and which one of your colleagues was a snitch. The difference is that by late 1980s there were few true believers. Those who held the power and dictated the indoctrination standards were mostly tired pragmaticists who were in power to be in power and little else. There we…
The difference is that by late 1980s there were few true believers.
This was one of the striking things about the collapse of the USSR, former KGB, the supposed final bastion of defence of the Soviet system, became hyper-capitalist oligarchs overnight seemingly without skipping a beat. We see the same thing happening where the one-time stronghold of enlightenment and liberalism doesn't believe in it either.
What's also strange is that there are many people in the US with lived experience of the Soviet system, and they are sounding the alarm that what's happening now leads to some very dark places, and their voices are being completely ignored or even shouted down.
Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#7Pffft expensive private school. They have those in Texas but it’s curious why anybody would attend if the goals are elitism or competition. Texas has wealthy public schools that are absurdly competitive, such as Southlake and Katy. If you want a full ride for your child at one of the most prestigious universities in the country just attend one of those public schools and be a top performer in both academics and sports.
Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#8I feel sorry for these people that can afford to send their kids literally anywhere have to make the decision about whether they should continue supporting the elitist system that they rode to the top, now that they found something they disagree with. You don’t like that the school is teaching that capitalism is wrong? Do the capitalist thing and vote with your wallet, send your kids somewhere else. If you don’t like…
Individuals can probably opt out of the system, even though at a possibly very high price paid in opportunities of their children.
The question is what happens to the entire country if its elite adopts critical race theory as The Truth. It could tear itself apart in a way not too dissimilar from 1861-5. Systems in which your skin color is the most important attribute have little space for meritocracy and movement among classes, and create an explosive reservoir of resentment.
Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#9I feel sorry for these people that can afford to send their kids literally anywhere have to make the decision about whether they should continue supporting the elitist system that they rode to the top, now that they found something they disagree with. You don’t like that the school is teaching that capitalism is wrong? Do the capitalist thing and vote with your wallet, send your kids somewhere else. If you don’t like…
racism curriculum is exaggerated
That is one part i would think is not exaggerated. It is disturbing how many articles mentioning race are in "business" papers like bloomberg and regular news papers of course, lets not mention advertisement and social media. It is not stop bombardment today.
Re: The Miseducation of Americas Elites
#10> "These schools are the privilege of the privilege of the privilege. They say nonstop that they are all about inclusion. But they are by definition exclusive."
This resonates with me as I've worked at companies where the ranks are filled with young people talking about diversity, who were raised in economically privileged environments. And they seem oblivious to how there are almost no people there from lower class backgrounds (or older people). I have a hard time bringing up my poor background in these contexts because the focus is on my skin color and gender.