Campus Wars: Penn and Teller Versus Academia!
This is just fantastic -- Penn and Teller versus academia!
Smackdown! It's the best video clip I've seen in a long time. (Link via Phi Beta Cons.)
I should warn you, that the language is rather . . . er, salty. But the content is pretty good. It's one episode of magicians/comedians Penn and Teller's well-named show "Bulls***," a program in which they attack all kinds of nonsense and stupidity. This time, it's academia's turn. Oh, and there is so much B.S. in academia too! The video runs for 28 minutes, and it's worth watching in its entirety.
If you're a novice about the campus cult of diversity and political correctness, you will find this interesting indeed. As for me, this is the sort of thing I live with! Notice also one statement that shows up in the video: the idea that if Person A is offended by Person B's words, then the campus should make Person B shut up. Here's the core of the First Amendment battles on campus: if you have free speech, sooner or later somebody will get offended. But that's part of free speech. You have a right to free speech, not a right to never be offended. Political correctness, of course, says you must never offend anybody at any time, or you will get sued/reprimanded/muzzled/silenced/etc. Many schools have "speech codes" -- they are, basically, limitations on what you can say. I don't need to tell you my opinion on that! Hellooooo, Academistan!
FYI, take a good look at the people who are interviewed in the segment. You'll see two of the big names in the current campus wars: Noam Chomsky (worshipped by campus leftists) and David Horowitz (admired by campus rightists). Chomsky and Horowitz are both lightning rods for their respective sides. You'll see also Alan Kors of FIRE. Anyway, I thought the "rightists" ended up sounding a lot more reasonable and intelligent than the PC supporters. The clip taken from a "diversity training seminar" is a terrifying slice of life. It's enough to turn your brain into absolute mush.
Now for two comments of my own. One: In regards to the utterly inane and fatuous statement that Chomsky is "the smartest man in academia": I laughed and laughed. Get real! He's got some stiff competition among the sciences. Two: I especially liked how one professor who is a diversity "expert" says college campuses are "plantations" filled with hatred and racism. Yes, he really said "plantations." How is that supposed to help foster hand-holding, "Kumbaya"-singing interracial warm fuzzies? (Heck, have you ever stopped to consider: these sorts of people have a vested interest in promoting the idea of racial and ethnic division. If the "problem" of diversity were ever solved, these people would be unemployed.)
Anyway, watch the Penn and Teller show, and tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not consider myself a "right wing nutjob." But when it comes to campus culture (and its enforced orthodoxy), I think the Right has a point and the Far Left has lost its mind. I should also tell you that not all leftists on campus are part of the lunacy. I've both met and heard of excellent Democrat professors who do NOT like the PC/multicultural crusade. In fact, the divide on campus isn't strictly Left versus Right. It's really about orthodoxy versus heterodoxy, groupthink vesus free inquiry, the tyranny of the Group versus individual rights and liberties. Besides, in a world of B.S. versus No B.S., wouldn't you rather be on the "No B.S." side?
UPDATE: Blog pal Bruce Chang has posted a few of his college memories and thoughts on this topic too.