What happened when I challenged the PC campus culture at NYU
washingtonpost.com
washingtonpost.com
> What if Trump triggers a few hundred thousand liberal totalitarians to jump out of their dorm windows? one can only hope. #TriggerWarning https://twitter.com/antipcnyuprof/status/780573017382481920
The answer is that you're asked to take a leave of absence because you're embarrassing everyone.
Shed no tears though, I'm sure Professor Edgelord will do just fine in the conservative talk circuit for years to come.
The hypocrisy of "you can't state your views because you're biased/bigoted/whatever" is extreme. Just two sides of the same coin.
Somehow people think that they can do their trolling behind that label and be protected from all criticism.
I'd argue its better to start offering counter arguments. If they engage reasonably, have discourse. Otherwise, start ignoring / saying 'here's that guy again'.
Yes, someone who remains reasonable and yet seeks to defend racism is probably slightly harmful. As he might move a few people, and keep others on the fence. And yet, I'd give most people more credit than that. I also care more about free expression of ideas. Finally, I care about convincing those on the other side, rather than confirming those who are on my side.
If you start dismissing everyone with a non-progressive view point, that won't convince them. Heck, it'll probably make them think all progressive are oversensitive people; people who defend their believes because they can't stand the very though of disagreement. Instead, we should look to express confidence truth seeking and reason. That is a lot more likely to get them to consider us.
Moreover, if the non-progressives are essentially unwelcome in progressive circles, we are just strengthening the divide and increasing tribalism on both sides. Heck, non-progressives basically aren't welcome in higher education. That can't be good and isn't what we should want.
Before someone suggests that I'm equating the two actions, I am not. My point is that this line of thought absolves others of responsibility for their actions. Whether or not the professor anticipated the response is irrelevant to the question "Is this sort of response wholly inappropriate?"
>Before someone suggests that I'm equating the two actions, I am not.
Sounds like you know the answer!
There is a case to be made for free speech on campus, but this professor is not making it. Sad!
They also have a reporting hotline for Halloween costumes and bias. Seems like a bad idea.
This idea (that companies have the ultimate power over your lives) seems to change when it involves left-leaning opinions. Would you be fine if I fired anyone saying anything bad about traditional marriage?
Weed legalization seems to be really popular in the tech community. Your body in your own time, right?
How is free speech any different? It's just as representitive of your employer.
"The answer is that you're asked to take a leave of absence because you're embarrassing everyone."
Weaklings in academia can't take a differing opinion are now creating students with this same weak mindset. It's a disgrace to intellectualism..if you can even call it that anymore.
"Shed no tears though, I'm sure Professor Edgelord will do just fine in the conservative talk circuit for years to come."
You can revel in people with differing opinions getting their livelihood destroyed and their opinions silenced, but when it happens to you, I won't be shedding a tear either.
With that said, I fully agree that this is nothing but a piece to try to undo the major fuck-up that was his Twitter trolling account linked to himself and his employer.
He's now trying to use the force of our movement to shield himself from the fair consequences of his actions using the inevitable PC-overreaction as an excuse.
MR: I don’t support Trump at all. I hate him — I think he’s horrible. I’m hiding amongst the alt-right, alright? And the point is, this character is meant to exhibit and illustrate the notion that it’s this crazy social-justice-warrior-knee-jerk-reaction-triggered-happy-safe-space-seeking-blah, blah, blah, blah culture that it’s producing this alt-right. Now, I’m not dumb enough to go there. And my own politics are very strong — I’m a left communist. But I think that in fact, the crazier and crazier that this left gets, this version of the left, the more the more the alt-right is going to be laughing their asses off plus getting more pissed. Every time a speaker is booed off campus or shooed off campus because they might say something that bothers someone, that just feeds the notion that the left is totalitarian, and they have a point. [0]
[0] http://www.nyunews.com/2016/10/24/qa-with-a-deplorable-nyu-p...
Sounds very east german to me.
The cause of Professor Rectenwald’s guilt is certainly not, in our view, his identity as a cis, white, straight male. The cause of his guilt is the content and structure of his thinking.”
These people think they're part of some Soviet kangaroo court.
All these SJWs are just evil as far as I'm concerned. If they ever get real power, there would be a civil war.
They are not even remotely comparable. The East German government created a network of hundreds of thousands of informants, maintained a separate penal system for political prisoners, prevented citizens from leaving the country, and used information gathered from surveillance to systematically destroy dissidents' lives.
The author of the article was put on paid leave for the remainder of the semester. It's unlikely that professors and classmates reported to the hotline would face even that.
Think about the implications of that at a deeper, rather than superficial, level. There's consequences for everything.
EDIT: The stated purpose of it isn't bad and as long as it doesn't enforce specific biases instead of eliminating them then it's probably okay
The problem is that it's not a fair system. And everybody knows this, but obviously if you're the ones making the rules and the system is in your favor, you don't care.
But the real problem is that there is no honesty in the discussions and arguments that SJWs and their sympathizers present.
If he had researched the topic he should have known that anyone who engages with trolls looses. So anyone who is half sane will steer clear. And he gets the left wing trolls feasting on his bait.
Scientific value: Likely close to zero.
But the question here is more: Experimental personas in social media and impact back on real life. Where should the line be drawn?
And here I imagined thoughtcrime is something from George Orwell's fiction, never expected to someone actually get punished for this crime. Winds of change, I guess.
So let me get this straight. If I block you, mock you, ban you from my site, or otherwise not associate with you I'm magically blackballing you the same way a university can? Sorry, but I'm not buying this bull. This is why I really, really hate intellectuals of this stripe. They claim that it's "censorious" to do what we already do in person. I don't talk to Trump supporters in real life. Are they censored by me not engaging them? Am I magically impeding their freedom to protest, write articles, publish articles, or otherwise make their message heard by the mere act of not listening as an individual? Michael Rectenwald and company need to stop conflating the legitimate concern of institutional censorship with the non-issue of free association. So how about he and his fellow trolls get a clue and stop whining cause people don't talk to each other on Twitter or Facebook.
I put forward that this is not a coincidence. We tend not to see these stories written by, say, a trans Woman of Color who works as a cleaner. Why is that? Do you think she faces less oppression and discrimination in her day to day life than this privileged white male who works at NYU? Of course not!
What we see here is one of the subtleties of privilege, power structures and white supremacy in this country. White people, upon encountering even the slightest challenge to their power, will lash out with extraordinary anger and self righteousness (exhibit A: the Trump campaign).
In contrast, trans people, People of Color, undocumented immigrants, and pretty anyone whose not a straight white Christian male is expected to endure any number of indignities at the hands of the white power structure.
What we are seeing now is People of Color, LBGTQs, and other oppressed groups saying to white men like the author is we've had enough. I commend them for it and hope everyone can see past his crocodile tears.
The so called "oppressed minorities" that do speak out against the PC culture are framed as Uncle Tom's and brushed under the rug.
Sigh....