Attention Economy


Sunday, August 21, 2022

Politicization of US Higher Education

Perspective from the Political Left –
DeSantis aims to scare academics. Unfortunately, it’s working
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/08/18/florida-stop-woke-act-teaching-desantis/
 
Perspective from the Political Right –
Education Schools Have Long Been Mediocre. Now They’re Woke Too
https://www.wsj.com/articles/education-schools-have-long-been-mediocre-now-theyre-woke-too-teachers-college-ideological-manipulation-propaganda-11660925293 


A Dangerous Political Climate
Jonathan Chait notes:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/08/ron-desantiss-florida-is-where-free-speech-goes-to-die.html
Figures like Trump and DeSantis sell themselves as the masters of the cultural fight, striking fear into their quavering enemies. But if you pay close attention, you might notice that the left, for all its loathing of the right, also has a curious appreciation for it. Every time a reactionary poses as a champion of free speech on campus, the left erupts in smug mockery of the liberals who advocated those ideals in earnest. The cynical reactionary exploitation of those ideals serves the left’s goal of defining the liberal ideal out of existence. See, nobody really believes in free speech. It is all a pose. The only choice is between our bullies and theirs.
I understand perfectly well the frustrations of liberals and moderates who have watched progressives all around them lose their minds. The key thing to understand is that the illiberalism of the left is a subcultural phenomenon while the illiberalism of the right has state power within its grasp. There is no failure of liberal norms on the left that the Republican Party cannot make immeasurably more dire.