Having just written about the closing of the Muslim mind, it's ironic and disturbing to read about the closing of the campus mind. That is, the stultifying enforced conformity taking hold across the U.S. academy, especially on liberal arts campuses.
Having been to school in China at the fag end of the Cultural Revolution, I can say that the atmosphere described in the thoughtful article below sounds eerily similar to that I experienced in that chilly, bare classroom in Peking back in the seventies.
One time an essay I wrote in Chinese was marked down a few points, not because of any grammatical mistake, but because I'd made a politically incorrect statement -- albeit inadvertently. I'd described the Gang of Four (remember them?), as "ultra leftist", when at the time they were being described as "ultra rightist". (In my defence, there had been a bit of to-ing and fro-ing on whether to describe them as rightist or leftist and it was a sensitive political issue; I just happened to pin yesterday's label on them, rather than today's.
The G4's label was later re-amended, once and for all, by the rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping, as "ultra leftist", but too late for me to get my marks back...
Read on in the link, for similar inanities on the American academy.
This link is thanks to David Thompson's blog, the source of much poking fun at the frequent silliness of the left. A favourite target is The Guardian...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/closing-campus-mind_899943.html?page=3
Sent from my iPad
Having been to school in China at the fag end of the Cultural Revolution, I can say that the atmosphere described in the thoughtful article below sounds eerily similar to that I experienced in that chilly, bare classroom in Peking back in the seventies.
One time an essay I wrote in Chinese was marked down a few points, not because of any grammatical mistake, but because I'd made a politically incorrect statement -- albeit inadvertently. I'd described the Gang of Four (remember them?), as "ultra leftist", when at the time they were being described as "ultra rightist". (In my defence, there had been a bit of to-ing and fro-ing on whether to describe them as rightist or leftist and it was a sensitive political issue; I just happened to pin yesterday's label on them, rather than today's.
The G4's label was later re-amended, once and for all, by the rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping, as "ultra leftist", but too late for me to get my marks back...
Read on in the link, for similar inanities on the American academy.
This link is thanks to David Thompson's blog, the source of much poking fun at the frequent silliness of the left. A favourite target is The Guardian...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/closing-campus-mind_899943.html?page=3
Sent from my iPad
