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Anyone who uses terms like "the left" is pretty much announcing where they are coming from, and that their argument is almost certainly going to be simplistic a

Anyone who uses terms like "the left" is pretty much announcing where they are coming from, and that their argument is almost certainly going to be simplistic and flawed. Take this excerpt: Surely the left believes in secularism and despises the superstitions that have held humanity back? Not so, and not for a long time. If "the left" believes in secularism and atheism, and the people he's talking about oppose secularism and atheism, why does does he conclude this means "the left" no longer believes in secularism, rather than the people he's talking about are not actually "the left"? He claims "Feminists, gay-rights campaigners, anti-fascists and anti-Islamists" are being sanctioned or persecuted. So the left is against feminists, gay-rights and anti-fascism? What do those groups represent then, "the right"? If there's one claim socialism and communism can make, it's that it's diametrically opposed to Islamism, as evidenced in numerous post-war socialist, secular Arab countries, Afghanistan in the 70s and 80s, and in the fact that leftists have been persecuted and murdered in every Islamist state from Saudi to Iran. In any case, the ‘left’ as I suppose I have to call it Why does he have to call it "the left" if even he states they hold "reactionary views"? Because he's pandering to a right-wing audience on a right-wing website.

mc32 11y ago
For the most part, I take it to mean the academic intellectual left. Yet, I think this dive into who Cohen is referring to is a detour which misses the point. The regrettable issue is various groups (left, right, whatever) within academia being able to establish taboos and enforce topics non-grata, to the detriment of thought exploration and discussion by the student body as well as the faculty.
hjhgjtyhgdf 11y ago
Please don't be ridiculous. There are tons of videos you can find on YouTube of leftists shutting down conservative speech. Look at Milo and Ben Shapiro for instance. Can you provide some examples of the right doing the same on university campuses?
- hartpuff 11y ago
  Can you post under a more obvious sock?
  - hjhgjtyhgdf 11y ago
    Why the ad hominem attack? Show me instances of conservatives shutting down speech like liberals have done with Milo and Ben Shapiro. Even Michael Blomberg has spoken about how liberals have essentially shut down conservatives on university campuses in his Harvard commencement speech.
angersock 11y ago
Alternately, the accepted shorthand for some groups may well be "the left" and "the right". Similarly, there are people who will use the term "Social Justice Warrior" while identifying with the movement, because it is a decent shorthand. "What do those groups represent then, "the right"?" It is possible to have other disagreements with those viewpoints despite what others might believe. For example, it is absolutely ideologically consistent that while the left may support atheism in the abstract they would also fail to support its logical conclusion that Islam as a religion and its practitioners should be re-educated. Similarly, the right may support gun owners but still disagree that felons/minorities should be allowed to own firearms.
- hartpuff 11y ago
  "The Jews" is an accepted shorthand for some people, and like "the left" you can be fairly certain the argument around the term is not going to focus on what a great bunch of lads they are. As to the other point, if both groups are "the left" (even though in this case one group is not behaving that way) then why argue that "the left" is censoring/repressing, when it's at least equally true (I'd say more true) that "the left" is being censored/repressed? I mean it's pretty funny seeing people on "the right" pretending to care that feminists and gay-rights activists are being shut down.
  - angersock 11y ago
    "The Jews" is an accepted shorthand for some people, Many of those people themselves being Jewish, referring to their own communities and people! I see what you're driving at, but the simple fact of the matter is that "leftist" is no more an automatic insult that "rightist" unless one is misidentified. I mean it's pretty funny seeing people on "the right" pretending to care that feminists and gay-rights activists are being shut down. I think it's reasonable that even the most die-hard reactionary may see the existential threat posed by policies and behaviors used to silence folks they might otherwise like. After all, mob justice is never guaranteed to stay in one's favor.
  - hjhgjtyhgdf 11y ago
    Which universities have shut down feminists and gay rights activists from speaking? Even the most hard core conservative campuses in the South haven't done so. On the contrary, there are tons of campuses across America who have shut down conservative speakers from speaking. There were Bernie Sanders protesters in Chicago just last week who shut down Donald Trump's right to speak. Can you name instances when Hillary or Bernie Sanders speeches were shut down from conservative protesters?

mc32 11y ago

For the most part, I take it to mean the academic intellectual left. Yet, I think this dive into who Cohen is referring to is a detour which misses the point. The regrettable issue is various groups (left, right, whatever) within academia being able to establish taboos and enforce topics non-grata, to the detriment of thought exploration and discussion by the student body as well as the faculty.

hjhgjtyhgdf 11y ago

Please don't be ridiculous. There are tons of videos you can find on YouTube of leftists shutting down conservative speech. Look at Milo and Ben Shapiro for instance. Can you provide some examples of the right doing the same on university campuses?

hartpuff 11y ago
Can you post under a more obvious sock?
- hjhgjtyhgdf 11y ago
  Why the ad hominem attack? Show me instances of conservatives shutting down speech like liberals have done with Milo and Ben Shapiro. Even Michael Blomberg has spoken about how liberals have essentially shut down conservatives on university campuses in his Harvard commencement speech.

angersock 11y ago

Alternately, the accepted shorthand for some groups may well be "the left" and "the right". Similarly, there are people who will use the term "Social Justice Warrior" while identifying with the movement, because it is a decent shorthand. "What do those groups represent then, "the right"?" It is possible to have other disagreements with those viewpoints despite what others might believe. For example, it is absolutely ideologically consistent that while the left may support atheism in the abstract they would also fail to support its logical conclusion that Islam as a religion and its practitioners should be re-educated. Similarly, the right may support gun owners but still disagree that felons/minorities should be allowed to own firearms.

hartpuff 11y ago
"The Jews" is an accepted shorthand for some people, and like "the left" you can be fairly certain the argument around the term is not going to focus on what a great bunch of lads they are. As to the other point, if both groups are "the left" (even though in this case one group is not behaving that way) then why argue that "the left" is censoring/repressing, when it's at least equally true (I'd say more true) that "the left" is being censored/repressed? I mean it's pretty funny seeing people on "the right" pretending to care that feminists and gay-rights activists are being shut down.
- angersock 11y ago
  "The Jews" is an accepted shorthand for some people, Many of those people themselves being Jewish, referring to their own communities and people! I see what you're driving at, but the simple fact of the matter is that "leftist" is no more an automatic insult that "rightist" unless one is misidentified. I mean it's pretty funny seeing people on "the right" pretending to care that feminists and gay-rights activists are being shut down. I think it's reasonable that even the most die-hard reactionary may see the existential threat posed by policies and behaviors used to silence folks they might otherwise like. After all, mob justice is never guaranteed to stay in one's favor.
- hjhgjtyhgdf 11y ago
  Which universities have shut down feminists and gay rights activists from speaking? Even the most hard core conservative campuses in the South haven't done so. On the contrary, there are tons of campuses across America who have shut down conservative speakers from speaking. There were Bernie Sanders protesters in Chicago just last week who shut down Donald Trump's right to speak. Can you name instances when Hillary or Bernie Sanders speeches were shut down from conservative protesters?