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The Coddling of the American Mind

Deacon923 said:
This is an interesting read.

I post this mainly because I am stunned that two college students actually engaged in the email dialog quoted in the story. I get that it took place at Oberlin and maybe is contained in such hyper-PC establishments (for now), but c'mon kids. Grow a thicker skin and stop taking everything so dang seriously. Go play some soccer. Or futbol. Or Mortal Kombat if you need to channel your microaggression or microsensitivity or micropenis into something less athletic. WTF dudes.
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that exchange is just The Tunnels. every day.
 
Deacon923 said:
This is an interesting read.

I post this mainly because I am stunned that two college students actually engaged in the email dialog quoted in the story. I get that it took place at Oberlin and maybe is contained in such hyper-PC establishments (for now), but c'mon kids. Grow a thicker skin and stop taking everything so dang seriously. Go play some soccer. Or futbol. Or Mortal Kombat if you need to channel your microaggression or microsensitivity or micropenis into something less athletic. WTF dudes.
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I must be coddled, because I was very offended by this sentence:

"Technically their my god-family but for all intensive purposes they are my family, call me their 4th son, and I am extremely close with them."
 
An interesting Friedersdorf piece about the results of coddling at Yale. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-intolerance-of-student-activism-at-yale/414810/ This bit is priceless:

According to the Washington Post, “several students in Silliman said they cannot bear to live in the college anymore.” These are young people who live in safe, heated buildings with two Steinway grand pianos, an indoor basketball court, a courtyard with hammocks and picnic tables, a computer lab, a dance studio, a gym, a movie theater, a film editing lab, billiard tables, an art gallery, and four music practice rooms. But they can’t bear this setting that millions of people would risk their lives to inhabit because one woman wrote an email that hurt their feelings?
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Here is a piece from a Yale student that puts what's going on in context.
https://medium.com/keep-learning-keep-growing/what-s-really-going-on-at-yale-6bdbbeeb57a6
Students should not have to become community organizers just to receive acknowledgement and respect from their administrators. It’s disheartening to feel like so few people in power have your back. Yes, we are angry. We are tired. We are emotionally drained. We feel like we have to yell in order to make our voices heard. While the stories in the press are about this one particular week at Yale, we’ve been working toward solutions for years.
I’ve heard a lot of people dismiss this situation out of hand because Yale is a “place of privilege.” But if racial discrimination of any kind can happen at a place like this, then it’s certainly happening elsewhere in this country.
I hope it’s obvious now that Yale students are concerned about far more than just an email or a frat party. In the petty debates about these two specific incidents, people have lost sight of the larger issue: systemic racism on campus. There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t acknowledge both the value of free speech and the reality of the prejudice that students of color face every day. It saddens me that this has gotten to the point where people feel like they have to take sides. We should all strive for a future where, at the very least, people feel physically safe and confident in their own humanity. Let’s focus on the goals we share, not the unproductive debates that divide us.

https://medium.com/keep-learning-keep-growing/what-s-really-going-on-at-yale-6bdbbeeb57a6
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stop-the-insanity.gif
 
What a cowardly sniveling generation we are raising. The real world is going to be fun for these pampered ones.
 
In twenty years the "real world" will include changes brought forward by the "sniveling" generation so I'm sure that for most it will be just fine.
 
On the one hand, I applaud the football team for exerting their considerable market power to get the result they wanted.

On the other hand, it is hard to tell exactly what it is they want, substantively. To the extent they want all students, regardless of color, to be treated fairly and equally by the University itself, that's a laudable goal. To the extent they expect the University to shield them from ever encountering a racist or hearing a racist remark, I think that's very unrealistic and not really within the University's power no matter how many presidents resign.
 
Deacon923 said:
On the one hand, I applaud the football team for exerting their considerable market power to get the result they wanted.

On the other hand, it is hard to tell exactly what it is they want, substantively. To the extent they want all students, regardless of color, to be treated fairly and equally by the University itself, that's a laudable goal. To the extent they expect the University to shield them from ever encountering a racist or hearing a racist remark, I think that's very unrealistic and not really within the University's power no matter how many presidents resign.
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I think the thing is, it's okay if something bad happens, as long as you're tryyyyying realllllllly harrrrd to fix it.
 
BiffTannen said:
I think the thing is, it's okay if something bad happens, as long as you're tryyyyying realllllllly harrrrd to fix it.
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I don't know much about the Mizzou backstory, but I'm gathering there's also an element in this of Tim Wolfe being a political hack appointee of the Tea Party Missouri legislature with no higher ed background. There may have been a background of mistrust and resentment of the guy before the more recent events ever happened. Which has some interesting resonances with the Margaret Spellings appointment in NC.
 
If you have freedom of speech, there will always be people who are offended. You can limit that with manners but manners are pretty much impossible to impose entirely. Furthermore, people will always try to get around and violate manners, if for no other reason, then just for fun. All things considered, freedom of speech is far more important, than people feeling offended.
 
Much of the offensive free speech you are supporting is akin to yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre to me, not the free exchange of opinions and ideas.
 
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