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Patrick Youngblood's avatar

This is really thoughtful and interesting. I especially appreciate the question of "what comes next?" watching what's happening at Columbia right now (where I work). While I'm fundamentally concerned with the Trump administration's attempt at control, it's the muddled and clueless response of academics that has me worried about how this will play out. They seem blind to the flaws that have made university culture an easy target.

For example, from this morning's NYT: “Today, the administration is going after pro-Palestinian speech, but tomorrow it can go after speech criticizing fossil fuels, speech promoting D.E.I. or speech defending gender-affirming care,” said Ramya Krishnan, a senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia, which is representing the professors in the lawsuit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/nyregion/professors-sue-trump.html

This quote shows a lack of understanding of legitimate reasons why people don’t like academic/liberal/left culture. Two of her three examples, DEI and youth gender medicine, are topics where the critics of mainstream opinion are marginalized and no one on the left rises to their defense.

I keep thinking of that line after 9/11 when a commentator (I can't remember who) wrote ’they hate us for not knowing why they hate us.’

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Chris Dalla Riva's avatar

No idea what the other person said but how did this not win??

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