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It's not surprising that universities are more left-leaning when the right has taken a stance against higher education and pushes anti-intellectualism for polit
by kesselvon 5y ago
It's not surprising that universities are more left-leaning when the right has taken a stance against higher education and pushes anti-intellectualism for political gain.
The right likes to push this idea of universities as brainwashing factories, but there's very little of that going on given that its usually a struggle to get everyone to do the assigned reading, let alone try to brainwash people.
- ethbr0 5y agoI flat out started dropping classes when I showed up and lecture was regurgitating the assigned reading. I understand some students are lazy. But that's what an F is for. Even in undergrad, I valued my time and tuition dollars more than that. As my father told a student who complained about a D in his course: "No, I didn't give you a D. You earned a D. I would have given you an F." (Went to GT and had family who taught undergrad and grad, so might have different perspective on expectations)
- BeFlatXIII 5y agoWas this a problem more frequently in some departments than others? For that matter, were they real profs or TAs?
- beaner 5y agoI dunno, I went to college. I've seen what it's like on the inside. Before I ever had political opinions it was pretty easy to see that people came out kind of brainless and all thinking the same things. It did not seem like an institution that really developed peoples' ability to think for themselves.
- kesselvon 5y agoWhat you get out of college is entirely up to you.
- willcipriano 5y agoThe same is true of life but life doesn't require student loans.
- beaner 5y agoSure. This is my observation of the student body.
- wolverine876 5y ago> Before I ever had political opinions it was pretty easy to see that people came out kind of brainless and all thinking the same things Wow. I would say IME people were transformed from unengaged and ignorant to skilled critical thinkers. YMMV, and it it may depend on college and major, but they couldn't make it through liberal arts classes "brainless and all thinking the same things"; they'd fail.
- throwaway894345 5y ago> It's not surprising that universities are more left-leaning when the right has taken a stance against higher education and pushes anti-intellectualism for political gain. People do realize that you don't have to choose between the regressive, anti-intellectual right and the regressive, anti-intellectual left, correct? Every time someone criticizes the left, some left-wing person argues that the right-wing is worse as though there isn't a moderate option. We have to choose between overt left-wing propaganda and overt right-wing propaganda--we can't have a media apparatus that at least pays lip service to objectivity and neutrality like we have had for the last few decades.
- wolverine876 5y agoA little confused: We do or don't have to choose? I agree with 'don't'; the idea that everything is politicized propaganda is a tool of the propagandists, like a liar saying 'everyone lies'.
- throwaway894345 5y agoWe do not have to choose. The far-left/far-right dichotomy is a false dichotomy.
- wolverine876 5y agoIt would be much easier if you would just play the game like everyone else.
- kesselvon 5y agoMy point was that universities aren't some kind of left-wing propaganda factory, and that they see universities as hostile to right-wing opinions because they deride the product of a university education. The right-wing opinion on universities and college graduates shifted around the same time that college graduates stopped being a strong GOP constituency.