3 ms·

There's a difference between supporting beliefs that differ from the mainstream and supporting people's freedom to form their own beliefs, and the second of the

There's a difference between supporting beliefs that differ from the mainstream and supporting people's freedom to form their own beliefs, and the second of these is much harder. One can't help but wonder how tolerant this crew will be of faculty or students who depart from their opinions. It might be worth noting that the biggest affront against academic freedom recently has not been from the supposedly ubiquitous leftist conspiracy but professors in Florida being blocked from testifying as expert witnesses on a voting-rights case, because the facts don't suit the decidedly non-leftist establishment there.

themgt 5y ago
I'm not sure why there's this assumption that this is some right-wing anti-woke initiative. It includes supporters like Nadine Strossen, longtime head of the ACLU, Steven Pinker, Jonathan Haidt, Larry Summers who served under Clinton and Obama administrations, etc. Haidt e.g. is frequent collaborator/partner with Greg Lukianoff who's the president of FIRE, which been actively involved in the Florida professor case: https://www.thefire.org/in-letter-to-university-of-florida-fire-demands-university-rescind-controversial-decision-banning-professors-voting-rights-testimony/ https://www.thefire.org/in-letter-to-university-of-florida-f... What reason do you have to think this assembled group of supporters wouldn't intend to actually be tolerant of divergent viewpoints and speech?
- notacoward 5y ago
  > What reason do you have The document itself. Look at who/what it cites or supports. For example: * Eric Kaufman at CSPI (three cites for two documents) rails about "left-wing authoritarianism" and "far left activists" while Weiss's own accompanying text specifically mentions "discrimination against right-leaning scholars". * Challey Institute, whose founder is a pretty major Republican operative - https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=robert+challey https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=robert... * FIRE Institute might have been involved in the Florida case, but also on the top of their "about" page are gems like "Under the guise of “nondiscrimination” policies" and non-specific complaints about diversity training. * Dorian Abbot and Peter Boghossian are specifically right wing martyrs. Kathleen Stock describes herself as a "gender critical feminist" or what many in the trans community would call a TERF * Weiss oddly does not mention the Florida case, even though it's highly topical (but it involves suppression by the right wing) The concern with supporting one political faction - not freedom itself - is obvious to anyone who actually reads the OP instead of reflexively taking sides.
- microtherion 5y ago
  Sohrab Ahmari spelled out his views on "being tolerant of divergent viewpoints" quite clearly — he's not a fan: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/05/against-david-french-ism https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/05/against-d... "Civility and decency are secondary values. They regulate compliance with an established order and orthodoxy. We should seek to use these values to enforce our order and our orthodoxy, not pretend that they could ever be neutral. To recognize that enmity is real is its own kind of moral duty." And, lest you think that he intends to pursue a different course at this "University", or that the above does not represent the University's vision, here's what he wrote today: https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1457712410438119427 https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1457712410438119427 "I told the founders that, standing in the ancient tradition of Catholic education, I don’t, in fact, believe that the university can or should enshrine mere free speech or free inquiry as its highest ideal. I was pleasantly surprised when they replied, “That’s why we want you.”"
- WalterGR 5y ago
  I'm not sure why there's this assumption that this is some right-wing anti-woke initiative. Here’s one of the HN submissions about this initiative: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29157445 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29157445 The title of the article is - but interestingly not visible in the article itself but rather when you bookmark - “Niall Ferguson: America’s Woke Universities Need to be Replaced”.

themgt 5y ago

I'm not sure why there's this assumption that this is some right-wing anti-woke initiative. It includes supporters like Nadine Strossen, longtime head of the ACLU, Steven Pinker, Jonathan Haidt, Larry Summers who served under Clinton and Obama administrations, etc. Haidt e.g. is frequent collaborator/partner with Greg Lukianoff who's the president of FIRE, which been actively involved in the Florida professor case: https://www.thefire.org/in-letter-to-university-of-florida-fire-demands-university-rescind-controversial-decision-banning-professors-voting-rights-testimony/ https://www.thefire.org/in-letter-to-university-of-florida-f... What reason do you have to think this assembled group of supporters wouldn't intend to actually be tolerant of divergent viewpoints and speech?

notacoward 5y ago
> What reason do you have The document itself. Look at who/what it cites or supports. For example: * Eric Kaufman at CSPI (three cites for two documents) rails about "left-wing authoritarianism" and "far left activists" while Weiss's own accompanying text specifically mentions "discrimination against right-leaning scholars". * Challey Institute, whose founder is a pretty major Republican operative - https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=robert+challey https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=robert... * FIRE Institute might have been involved in the Florida case, but also on the top of their "about" page are gems like "Under the guise of “nondiscrimination” policies" and non-specific complaints about diversity training. * Dorian Abbot and Peter Boghossian are specifically right wing martyrs. Kathleen Stock describes herself as a "gender critical feminist" or what many in the trans community would call a TERF * Weiss oddly does not mention the Florida case, even though it's highly topical (but it involves suppression by the right wing) The concern with supporting one political faction - not freedom itself - is obvious to anyone who actually reads the OP instead of reflexively taking sides.
microtherion 5y ago
Sohrab Ahmari spelled out his views on "being tolerant of divergent viewpoints" quite clearly — he's not a fan: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/05/against-david-french-ism https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/05/against-d... "Civility and decency are secondary values. They regulate compliance with an established order and orthodoxy. We should seek to use these values to enforce our order and our orthodoxy, not pretend that they could ever be neutral. To recognize that enmity is real is its own kind of moral duty." And, lest you think that he intends to pursue a different course at this "University", or that the above does not represent the University's vision, here's what he wrote today: https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1457712410438119427 https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1457712410438119427 "I told the founders that, standing in the ancient tradition of Catholic education, I don’t, in fact, believe that the university can or should enshrine mere free speech or free inquiry as its highest ideal. I was pleasantly surprised when they replied, “That’s why we want you.”"
WalterGR 5y ago
I'm not sure why there's this assumption that this is some right-wing anti-woke initiative. Here’s one of the HN submissions about this initiative: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29157445 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29157445 The title of the article is - but interestingly not visible in the article itself but rather when you bookmark - “Niall Ferguson: America’s Woke Universities Need to be Replaced”.