> If the concept of safety is foundational to these students’ ethical philosophy (as I take it to be), and, if the protests are committed to reinserting ethical

> If the concept of safety is foundational to these students’ ethical philosophy (as I take it to be), and, if the protests are committed to reinserting ethical principles into a cynical and corrupt politics, it is not right to divest from these same ethics at the very moment they come into conflict with other imperatives. Speaking frankly as a political moderate in a far-left company: I don't honestly feel that "safety" in the abstract is foundational to the ethical framework of any of these movements. "Safety" for particular classes of people is, but as the saying goes, they tolerate everything except intolerance. This sounds like a great idea, but in practice it means that even someone like me—who supports LGBT rights and has deep personal connections to the pain of gay people—feels unable to safely express my political opinions at work. I work in edtech, and I'd like to speak up in defense of the parents who don't want school curricula to include still-controversial topics. I'd like to point out that the way that they're fighting this battle will just isolate and alienate the parents of the children who they're trying to serve and that it is a morally bad thing to teach children something that their parents have explicitly said they don't want their kids to be taught. I'd like to argue that we should find a better path than intentionally deconstructing parental rights. But I can't say that because that opinion isn't welcome. I see the same thing in these protests. There's a ton of nuance in this conflict, a ton of room for complex opinions, but creating a safe space to discuss that nuance is not the goal. The goal is to shout one opinion loudly enough that political leaders feel bound to respond, and that is antithetical to creating a true safe space. It's never been about safety, it's been about justice, and in the minds of the protestors achieving justice requires silencing opposition.