The Age of Irony
That’s my prediction for the next 4 years.
Consider two definitions of Maoism:
1. Radical egalitarianism. Public shaming and forced apologies when people fail to spout obvious nonsense like, “All differences in pay between ethnic groups reflect racism.” (I guess there’s lots of racism against white Christian Americans, as they make less than Jews from Eastern Europe or Hindus from India.)
2. Resentment against the intellectual elite. Shut down the universities and send the intellectuals to the countryside.
Over the next four years, I expect to be eagerly munching on my popcorn as these two types of Maoists go after each other. Consider the following tweets:
Why not remove the tax exemption from all universities? Why would they go after only NGOs with more than $5 billion in assets? The answer is obvious. They are not upset by places like (relatively apolitical) Bentley College, where I used to teach. The right wing Maoists hate those pointy headed intellectuals at Harvard and Yale, as those are the people with real influence over our political system.
The ironies are rich. Our intellectual elite has an radical anti-elite ideology. Those who hate our intellectual elite, hate their anti-elite ideology. Thus they believe the elites must be punished.
Got that?
PS. Just to be clear. I’m not saying that going after tax breaks for universities is Maoist. (It may be good policy.) I’m saying that going after tax breaks for elite universities is Maoist.
HT: Razib Khan
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22. July 2024 at 12:33
>The ironies are rich. Our intellectual elite has an radical anti-elite ideology. Those who hate our intellectual elite, hate their anti-elite ideology. Thus they believe the elites must be punished.
There’s literally no contradiction here.
22. July 2024 at 12:39
Irony “literally” doesn’t mean contradiction.
22. July 2024 at 13:54
I believe private universities should be far less powerful than they now are.
22. July 2024 at 14:00
EHarding, What bearing does that have on this post?
22. July 2024 at 15:03
That would be quite the catastrophe, should humanities and social science departments at elite universities receive less funding.
Imagine the department administrators keeping their jobs, but letting teaching staff shrivel….
22. July 2024 at 19:00
“Public shaming and forced apologies when people fail to spout obvious nonsense like, “All differences in pay between ethnic groups reflect racism.””
This happened at MIT and CalTech?
Steve
22. July 2024 at 21:44
Solon, Just once, try to comment on the actual post.
23. July 2024 at 00:28
OK, I actually agree with you. The two groups of Maoists are awful.
But in a way, I was addressing the post.
The explosion of administrative staff at universities has given the institutions the myrmidons necessary to implement intellectual pogroms and to enforce DEI and other mandates.
I wonder what would happen, in the old days, when one professor said he wanted another professor given the boot, due to some improper statement or ideology.
Now the heavy arm of the administrative state can be brought to bear…with bureaucrats armed with opinions from lawyers…and so on.
What was once a type of academic dispute becomes something else….
23. July 2024 at 02:46
Again, you seem incapable of nuance.
This is not 1939, when having a Ph.D. actually meant something.
You’re not some academic, intellectual hero, like Einstein, speaking out against Hitler. You are a radical thug, parroting the establishment regime. There is a big difference.
45% of Americans have a bachelors degree. 90% of that cohort are uneducated buffoons. They have a B.A. or B.S. or an M.A. or M.B.A next to their name, but most of them are very average people who rarely read. These people don’t even fall into the “kind of smart” category.
Ph.D’s are not much better. Artificial demand, due to govt subsidies, has expanded departments and the number of univerisities substantially. A watered-down Ph.D in 2024 is not the same as a Ph.D in 1939.
In short, Pseudo-intellectuals are not intellectuals.
There is nothing intellectual about women’s studies, film studies, gender studies, monetary economics, psychology, and other social sciences. Just look at yourself in the mirror. The model you provide, like every model ever propagated by mainstream monetary economists has no predictive value, and for the most part you just parrot what other people say. When the Fed and the Economist magazine scream: “Inflation will be transitory” you begin to use the word “transitory”.
When a talking head discusses the concept of “packing the courts” or ending the electoral college because their favorite candidate didn’t win the election, or because the justices refused to push through some radical unconstitutional legislation, you suddenly call for “packing the courts” and “ending the electoral college”. If a talking head says it, you’ll repeat it.
College “educated” people are on twitter saying things like: “Lincoln revoked Habeas Corpus, Lincoln was a Republican, therefore Trump will do the same.”
What state school did that lunatic graduate from? Please revoke their license.
It’s an illogical proposition. The conclusion doesn’t follow.
And for the record, FDR also revoked Habeas Corpus. I don’t condone revoking rights under the pretense of emergency, but if we’re going to play this low I.Q. moron game, then let’s set the record straight.
When you say things like the AfD and MAGA are anti-immigrant — you are lying and/or ignorant. Neither party said any such thing.
When you say Robert Malone and RFK jr are anti-vaxxers, you are lying and/or ignorant. They said the exact opposite.
Are you capable of nuanced reasoning? Do you understand, for example, that controlled immigration is not the same as being anti-immigrant? Do you understand that concerns over the safety of vaccines does not mean one is “anti-vaxx”. Do you understand that controlled immigration is not the same as Nazi Germany?
None of your political comments are original. It’s all repackaged nonsense. Packing the courts is at least two hundred years old. The last thing any intellectual should want, based on any reasonable understanding of history, is for the legislative branch and the voting public to have control over judges whose job is to interprete the constitution.
23. July 2024 at 09:00
Sara thinks one gets a licence for graduating college? And that MAGA is a party? Oh, my.
And here I’m still laughing at her claim Leeds was burning for three days and looks like Pakistan.
The elite’s anti-elitism is rather remarkable. At the present rate, they really will hit ‘Harrison Bergeron’ levels some day. (If you haven’t read that short story by Vonnegut, I highly recommend taking the 5-10 minutes it takes to do so.)
23. July 2024 at 11:06
Solon, Sorry, off topic.
Sara, Nonstop lies about my views, for what purpose? An effective troll will actually correctly state the views of their target, before mocking them.
24. July 2024 at 00:47
Well, OK. But this is just a blog and I am just a wag.
The explosion of the administrative state in academia, and its impact on thought crimes and hiring, is worth a mention.
BTW, those upper administrators make far, far more money than the talent.