I'm not sure the relevance - organizing and putting pressure on the leadership occurs in all forms. Labor unions don't pressure elected leaders. Corporations who lobby regulators aren't dealing with elected leaders. These kids aren't dealing with elected leaders. The issue is how people pressure their leaders, not who the leaders are. Asking is not insane. Giving in would be insane. People always ask for ridiculous things in protests or labor negotiations or political negotations or whatever else.
At bringing about "bad change" as you say. It would probably be seen that way by groups that have no intention of compromising. I would look at it more as suggesting a better way to bring about real, long-lasting change that doesn't serve to bring about more divisiveness. I have no problem if professors at universities started preaching a little bit of listening instead of only shouting and complete intolerance of differing viewpoints.
Imagine trying as hard as some of these kids do to become offended. What a nightmare lifestyle that would be.
OK it's not insane. It's ridiculous. Kids pressuring professors, who are supposed to be opening their minds and fostering debate, to get fired is ridiculous. Kids saying free speech is less important than then "feeling safe" is ridiculous. Kids banning any speaker they disagree with is ridiculous. (Many of the speakers are on the left too). Professors being scared of their students is ridiculous
I honestly wonder if they really lose sleep and can't eat when they hear someone disagree with them. If so they have serious issues.
Yet it happens on all parts of the political spectrum these days. Imagine trying to get offended over a crappy Starbucks cup. Jesus! Whoops, I mean, sheesh!
Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think any professor has actually been fired. They ran out the professor and chancellor, but those are administrative functions. I'd honestly be very surprised if any tenured or tenure-track professor lost his employment there over anything short of outrageous direct hate speech (I know there's been cases at other schools, like a UI prof fired for anti-Israel tweets who is suing to get his job back).
Except that almost nobody is offended by a crappy Starbucks cup, leftist lies to the contrary, notwithstanding.
Again, kids see this every day in our political system. Obama disagrees with the Tea Party, so he's an evil socialist that needs to be investigated and impeached. He enacts an executive order, so he's an imperial dictator and the right is horribly offended at the destruction of our democracy. As a result of all this faux outrage, more tea partiers get elected and they are able to overthrow their own Speaker because he didn't cave to all their demands. These kids aren't making this stuff up - they are duplicating what they see as being effective methods. And they got the Mizzou President overthrown, so it's proving effective there. But the problem is not in the kids - they are seeing what works in speaking out against established power and duplicating it. Donald Trump is using the same exact methods to try to secure a Presidential nomination. The underlying problem is not that people are doing this stuff - people have always tried this crap. It's just that it's never worked before.
Watching politics for the last 20 years where compromise is submission/weakness/defeat where we have seen the uncompromising party get about 75~90% of what they want Compromising is not a virtue/value/ideal in the modern American and most importantly. . . it doesn't work well Watch Fox News and their arrangement of the facts even when shown to be wrong they simple either ignore it or double down on it They lead MILLIONS of people Seeing this your whole life. . . why would you not take this same tone and direction More than ever we are built on competition where the competition must be destroyed and humiliated It is the way we wage war . .. . Do we compromise with Saddam? ISIS? Taliban? No . .. we destory them . .. we bomb them and anyone that gets in our way We are not a nation that takes kindly to compromise Rocket River
It's utter lunacy. I don't know how exactly we got to the point where actively seeking out offensive material and the outrage that so many are desperate to be apart of became all the rage...but it's embarrassing.
Were talking about students at universities trying to get their professors fired over minor disagreements. The professors are not Saddam, ISIS, or even the political opposition
I kind of agree with much of this, just as statements separate from any context. As a professor, I can say yes, I am often frightened of the environment and frightened by the power students can have with an administration who views them as customers to placate at all costs. I know I just fed a bunch of trolls (not you, Mr. C, who I really respect a lot), but so be it.
OK I'm assuming this isn't a defense of them. It's concerning when they think free speech isnt important or that debate or disagreement shouldn't be allowed.
You think these kids suddenly made up "no compromise" on their own? That they just magically came up with the idea exactly at the same time it became a significant and new (and highly successful) element of our political system?
Yeah it's too bad this forum is the place where doo doo is thrown, because out in the real world the left and right agree on much of this. A lot of the best critiques of these types of students are from the left
