George Washington (where I teach at the law school) has become the focus of national attention due to a letter sent out by a collection of student groups that declared the security supplied by campus police to be an “act of violence” because police are viewed as supporting President-elect Donald Trump. It is an absurd and insulting position — part of a tirade by the groups calling for everything from providing sanctuary to undocumented immigrants to breaking down patriarchy, Islamophobia, and a myriad of other social ills. The deep sense of community and societal concerns reflected in the letter is a good thing and something that this university has always fostered. However, the gratuitous slap at our campus police is neither productive nor warranted.
The letter reflects the contributions of a wide array of groups, including Young Progressives Demanding Action GW, the Feminist Student Union, the Roosevelt Institute, Progressive Student Union, Students for Justice in Palestine, Green GW, Fossil Free GW, GroW Community, Casa Blanca, the Theta Chapter of Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad/Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, inc., Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance Advocacy Committee, and the Association of Queer Women and Allies. It is important to note that this is just a relatively small fraction of the many groups at GWU.
As for GW campus police, the groups tied all officers to the organizational support of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) for Donald Trump. Accordingly, the groups insists that “placing us in these officers’ care is an act of violence, especially for Black students.” Not only do the students demand that they be protected from campus security but that the university respond to this problem by increasing financial aid, discretionary funds, and other support for minority and low income students.
The connection drawn between the FOP and the campus security is facially ridiculous. These students are seeking to isolate officers based on their perceived support for a democratically elected president. The “act of violence” is the simple maintenance of a security staff for the university. None of these organizations appear to recognize the implications of barring employees from supplying services based on their presumed political leanings. These are the same groups that later in the letter demand that the university guarantee the rights of campus workers to organize and make demands. Yet, due to their perceived political beliefs, these workers are to be treated as objectified vehicles of oppression and violence:
“safety must not depend on the University’s police. The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the United States, has formally endorsed President-Elect Donald Trump. The FOP includes over 10,000 members in Washington D.C., many of which have jurisdiction over GW’s campus. Placing us in these officers’ care is an act of violence, especially for Black students.”
In addition to demanding that the university become a sanctuary for undocumented persons, the letter demands other commitments like the university recognizing “white supremacy” and how “The 2016 presidential election has emboldened the structures of oppression that are embedded in our country at all social, political, and economic levels.”
The demands also include greater protections and admissions for Palestinian students “to prevent their genocide at the hands of Israel” and the university supplying job training and community centers in Washington, D.C. as well as facilities for the homeless.
The tragic irony is that we have long had one of the most responsive and supportive security forces in the country. I have worked with campus security in a volunteer program teaching elementary students about the law. These officers operate in a high crime area and try hard to protect the faculty and students from harm. They deserve better than this unhinged tirade. I am confident that the professionals working for the university will not be affected by this letter. They will continue to do their jobs and protect all students and faculty. However, they should know that many of us appreciate their hard work and dedication.
The call for the university to subsidize various social programs for the homeless, undocumented, and other groups ignores our primary educational mission. We remain one of the most expensive schools in the country. In addition to the demand for more financial aid and discretionary funds, the supply of housing, training, and shelter services would impose tremendous costs of students who already face towering tuition debt. GW has a long history of community outreach and activism. Yet, we remain at our core an educational institutional with a duty to our students to supply an education at an affordable cost.
I am glad to see activism and passion from our students. These are issues worthy of debate. However, this letter seems more visceral and sensational than constructive in my opinion.
What do you think?
Here is the letter:
“The Ferguson Effect” needs to come into play. Al Sharpton needs to come in with his dudes and set fires in various parts of the campus and inspire the natives to protest and rebel. The cops on campus need to be further slandered. The students obviously came in dumb and they need to go out dumb too. They are hustlin round DC in their alligator shoes. When they graduate they need to be given a roll of toilet paper with photos of the campus police chief so that they can wipe with some satisfaction. What would The Donald say about all of this? Would he build a Tower near that dumb school? It is named after a slave holder. Time to change the name. No name, no blame.
There is a far darker current running here–the repression of people’s views and even livelihood based on their opinions–and in this case, supposed association of opinion. An evil dictator who jailed thousands and caused untold economic misery has just died. He too, believed it his right to repress those he found to be in possession of the “wrong” opinions. Can you imagine if these “progressives” on our campuses actually had power over peoples lives? Mr. Turley is a fine example of a liberal in the classic mode. He argues intelligently for his ideas but just as vigorously defends the right of those he disagrees with.
Excellent post Carl.
I like the words: “little snowflakes”. But consider this. In America we are adults and have voting rights when we are 18. There is a phrase bandied about: 18, up and out! That means when the kid is 18 he/she is not a “kid” but an adult and it is time for them to go out on their own and be an adult. These college snowflakes are all 18 or older. Brats, weenies, dumb. I would never let my kid go to GW.
Lee; Just saw Hacksaw Ridge a week ago. Amazing what 18-year-olds properly uncoddled can do.
Isn’t that the truth! My son is at that age now, and he has studied WWII history in pretty good detail (especially considering today’s sweep-it-under-the-rug-type history.) He has seen the invasion footage, Bulge footage, and Remagen, and it sinks home to understand his grandfather was there doing that at his very age. We don’t have a “get the job done” generation anymore. We have been discussing this at dinner and my son is a little apprehensive about what awaits him when he leaves for school.
I think the protesting students should have held their breath and stamped their feet when delivering this preposterous letter thus in keeping with the spirit of the event. GW should have then notified our little snowflakes that their cellphone numbers would be blocked by campus security in the event they needed police protection from crime. After all, it’s learning experience, isn’t it? No better lesson to learn than stupid games win you stupid prizes.
The Ohio State University is a sanctuary campus. Obviously the Somali terrorist didn’t get the memo. Or, maybe he did!
Our Islamist refugee found a sanctuary alright, just not from American bullets. Like I said below: play stupid games; win stupid prizes. Here’s hoping they continue to bring knives to gun fights.
@mespo727272: “Here’s hoping they continue to bring knives to gun fights.”
I think we can all be grateful that the incident at Ohio state ended as quickly and with as few casualties as it did. And let us give LE their proper due – a big thank you for rapid response, clear thinking, and a job well done.
But the fact is that somehow radical Islam managed to turn that student. News reports tell us he was 18. We know he was at a university that could give him a first rate education, in the country that offers more opportunity than any other in the world.
Yet radical Islam managed to flip that guy – not just to use violence against us – but to used it in a way that would almost certainly lead to his death.
It is not enough to say he was bad, or evil, or a savage. The incident ought to raise troubling questions.
What is going on? What techniques are they using? How can radical Islam be so effective that they can turn a young man who seems to have everything to live for?
If we cannot find real answers to those questions, our future is likely to be far more dangerous than any of us can now imagine.
BFM, it’s easy to make this country look bad right now. We are killing people everyday in the ME. This ain’t no video game. People have families, friends, loved ones. The last 15 years of undeclared war are coming home to roost. Add that gas to an already simmering flame, this is what you get.
@slohrss29: “The last 15 years of undeclared war are coming home to roost. Add that gas to an already simmering flame, this is what you get.”
In my opinion that is a truth little remarked on. It does not matter how you got there or why the country is at war. Perpetual war grinds people, families and the society down. It does not how resilient the people, the war takes a toll.
I just wonder, when this is finally all over, will we think it was worth it and what will be left.
BFM, with the sheer number of people–and possibly families being killed across generations time–this ongoing nightmare may just be starting. We may never see the ends of this in our lifetimes. And it may become willful resignation on scores of desperate people in the future. I remember when all this started, the deal was “a quick job for $50 billion, that the Iraqi oil money will pay for…” Ron Paul denounced it saying the GAO said it would be more like $500 billion, and he was almost laughed off the house floor. The cash keeps getting higher, as well the negative impact on society. I think we can conclude this was not worth it years ago.
@slohrss29: ” I remember when all this started, the deal was “a quick job for $50 billion, that the Iraqi oil money will pay for…” Ron Paul denounced it saying the GAO said it would be more like $500 billion, and he was almost laughed off the house floor. ”
Oh for he good ole days when you could wage a war for a mere $500 billion.
I don’t think we will see the end of Islamic radicalism in my life time.
I am no pacifist. It may be necessary to hold them at bay with drones and cluster bombs. But this won’t end till we manage to change minds.
I think it is fair to say we literally won the cold war. But we hardly fired a shot. We changed minds by telling a better story and showing how things could be different.
Has anyone seen any effort to communicate with alienated or radicalized youth – any at all, anywhere, by anyone?
I agree, we won the cold war, but we mainly outlasted it. The argument for communism has a conveniently ignored endtrap, and that was it’s ultimate undoing in relatively short order (we know humans always seek to destroy what they create, it was just faster with communism…). We did tell a better story, for the most part. I don’t think we will see the end of this struggle at all, I think what you will see is a totally new world set up in the end. I think we are in a WWI type of situation here, and it remains to be seen how much more violent it may become, but, as we watch it unfold before us, the world will be totally anew in about five years.
I really don’t think “holding them at bay with drones and cluster bombs” is any means to an end. If anything, it will embolden their purpose, probably act as a unifier (when this shia-sunni struggle gets worked out), and may ultimately bleed us dry as their efforts increase in size and complexity. That just happens in history. Our recently much-maligned founding fathers realized this when they talked about avoiding foreign entanglements. I don’t think you can get much more tangled-up then we are now. Another word from another age–“Justice,” is not on our side anymore and the scales are tipped against us. And I do appreciate your points.
I think the parents are to blame for this snowflake crisis. Several of my friends teach and what they to have to deal with from the parents and the hostile administrations is unreal. Just the other day a 10th grader stole the math test and “aced” it. My friend who teaches the class realized what had happened but she didn’t have proof. She did call up the young lady in question and noted she had writing all over her hands. A cheat cheat for her English class exam. My friend insisted the student wash it off and notified the other teacher. By the end of the day my friend got an email from the guidance counselor – said the student was very upset that she had been publicly humiliated and there would be a conference with girl’s mother. I would never advise anyone to go into teaching these days. As in so many other areas – politics, workplace, justice, 0 accountability and the “whistleblower” comes under fire.
That word is Gitmoe, As in Moe, Larry, Cheese.
That school needs to have a wall built around it. Anyone who comes in or goes out should have a psych exam under the DSM 5. That is the Diagnostical Statistical Manual Vol 5. You cannot just call the students all “wacko”. They need to be classified and the craziest ones considered for lock up at Gitmot.
Psych eval not a bad idea. But not Gitmo – the taxpayers have to fund it. How bout a one way ticket to Saudi Arabia or another theocratic nation? They’d really have some valid issues to protest although I doubt they’d experience any leniency from the mullahs.
According to Prof. Turley: “The letter reflects the contributions of a wide array of groups, including Young Progressives Demanding Action GW, the Feminist Student Union, the Roosevelt Institute, Progressive Student Union, Students for Justice in Palestine, Green GW, Fossil Free GW, GroW Community, Casa Blanca, the Theta Chapter of Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad/Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, inc., Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance Advocacy Committee, and the Association of Queer Women and Allies.”
All of these groups should be required to have a State mandated label: “This organization is Leftist, which the State of ______________ has determined may be hazardous to your free speech, freedom, and liberties.”
Sort of like how California makes some supplements have a warning: “This product contains an ingredient that is known in the State of California to cause cancer.”
Call it truth in labeling.
Mean while, at Ohio State…
I think the students actually heard Trump’s campaign rhetoric are taking action because of it. It’s unfortunate that JT picked out/on the police part of the list. I don’t know enough about the university police to agree or disagree. However, the second part of that point is worth consideration of how to better protect the students. The other points are just as valid. Getting that many organizations to agree is amazing. They show respect for the each other’s grievances and offer suggestions for improving the situation. This is part of the process of civic activity. Good for them. I hope the university actually listens rather than brushing them off.
I have been called racist for wanting all immigration to go through legal channels, and to ensure that our population growth does not get to the point that it damages our environment or collapses our natural resources. I got the same rhetoric when I have talked about the massive crime that crosses our borders. Los Zatos cooked hundreds of men, women, and children in crude ovens near our border, and they are in the US now, too. The sex slave and other human trafficking still operates across our border, and there are signs on US soil warning that areas are too dangerous for citizens to approach, in our own country. But I’m racist if I point this out.
I have been told I want poor kids to die when I’ve said that we need to ensure that the proper agency is paying for meals for poor kids, rather than the cash strapped education system paying for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to kids of all socioeconomic levels in an effort not to stigmatize poor kids.
I’ve been told I don’t care about health care access for the poor when I’ve harshly condemned Obamacare as being like another mortgage, with Cadillac style premiums, Catastrophic style deductibles, the good doctors don’t take it, many cancer centers don’t take it, many top chemo drugs are not on formulary.
I was called anti-Semitic when I claimed that Trump’s meme they forwarded was intended to have the hexagram of the Sheriff’s badge rather than the symbolism of the outline of the SOD. That a man with a Jewish daughter and son-in-law who attended all the Jewish holidays, was active in the Jewish community, and had a good relationship with Netanyahu would not purposely send anything to the entire world that was anti-Semitic.
I was called Islamophobic when I’ve criticized the human rights abuses that take place under Sharia law, and how difficult it is to help someone from the Old Country shake off the brainwashing against women, Jews, and gays.
I was told I didn’t care about kids when I’ve criticized the teacher’s unions for fighting for the status quo and not being a meritocracy.
You know, at some point, all of us working middle class get really tired with being ascribed with evil tendencies for merely disagreeing the Progressive policy. And when you over use the cry wolf, then it holds no meaning when you really mean it. And when we watch the same rumor mill get going on Donald Trump, we remember all the times we’ve been on the receiving end. So it does not have the desired effect. Rather, we see Progressives as using vicious ad hominem attacks for political gain. Which is a truly evil thing to do.
Donald Trump lacks an edit button. He thinks it’s OK to insult women because he also insults men, so he thinks he’s just being equally harsh. I find him to be self defeating at times. But he is not racist or anti-semitic, and he was never accused of being either until he ran as a Republican. All of a sudden, all the humanitarian awards he’s won for working with the Jewish community and African Americans got thrown out the window.
These ad hominem attacks against people for political motivation must stop, because it’s ripping the country apart.
Out of thousands of instances of political violence, I know of only one incident where a pro-Trump supporter tackled an anti-Trump protestor. And I’ve heard of middle school kids chanting “build the wall” at a school.
Other than that, I’ve seen:
1. Thousands of death threats and intimidation called in to the electoral college in blatant voter intimidation. Even their families have been threatened, for shame.
2. Thousands of death threats against Trump, and his entire family, including his child.
3. Melania Trump’s immigrant accent mocked by Hadid.
4. Trump’s 10 year old son mocked with allegations of Autism
5. Shootings
6. Beatings of Trump voters
7. Riots
8. Burning down stores in protest of Trump
9. Boycotts of people not wanting to work with or serve Melania or Trump (ironic in the entire case against bakers and florists who protest gay marriage)
10. Universities and public schools taking time off or excusing missed tests to enable hysterical people upset about the lawful result of a Democratic election
11. Millions of people either unaware of the purpose of the electoral college giving each state a voice rather than just listening to dense urban areas, or not caring about other’s say
12. Millions of people disowning or unfriending their friends and family if they voted Trump (a one sided phenomenon according to the NYT)
13. Racist taunts against white people by anti-trumpets
14. The majority of 32 states called racists, bigots, anti-semites, etc
15. And, most importantly, a tiny fringe group of neo Nazis given massive international air time on TV. These tiny minorities have always been around, and they’ve been despised for decades, as they should be. But that good old rumor mill gets going that Trump’s a Nazi, and then the Neo Nazis actually believe it, so they’re thrilled, and then their reaction gets filmed, goes viral, so they get all this publicity and media attention, so they’re again thrilled. Stop giving these people attention! And stop blaming Trump. He’s not responsible for all the anti-Semitic rumors going around about him. The Progressives are. And so they share the responsibility if any actual anti-Semites believe them.
And as for the Swastikas?
I’ve learned that anti-Trump protestors draped a Nazi flag, and in many cases drew Swastikas out of protest. A Muslim woman admitted to lying about being attacked by pro-Trump men. Over and over again there have been hoaxes to get attention for people who want to play the victim but find it hard to be actually victimized in reality.
And, yes, of course, with all these rumors that Trump is a Nazi, there are a small minority of neo Nazis who are thrilled with his election and spray painting. Those people have always been here, and those hateful images pop up from time to time annually. There will be an uptick until the truth manages to fight its way out that Trump actually has a Jewish family and is buddies with Netanyahu, so not much there for a Nazi to idolize, is there?
“Getting that many organizations to agree is amazing. ”
I hope some one, LE or otherwise, will correct me if I am wrong, but FOP is not a labor organization. It is an affinity group that even non-LE can join. My quick reading of their web site indicates that aside from character the only requirements are a drivers license and a gun permit.
It seems to me that part of what these groups have agreed to it that it is perfectly acceptable to take actions detrimental to an individuals employment on the basis that some, not all only some, associates at work might belong to a particular organization.
I can’t wait to hear their response when some Trump inspired administrators start banning instructors because they belong to American Sociological Association or some other professional organization deemed to be too far left.
And what a progressive standard to agree to … you don’t have to actually belong to the objectionable organization. You can be banned because some of you work associates might, repeat: might, belong to the organization.
And this kind of thought process is supposed to protect people!?
Respectfully, bettykath, that is a fairly small school, and said organizations could easily comprise just several hundred students, or less. I restate my comment that it would benefit them to at least imagine what it would be like to live in a society where there is no campus security, there is no 911 to call. Law enforcement in this country isn’t perfect, but to paint them with such a broad brush is far from fair to those that take their duties seriously and hold them sacrosanct, and in my experience there are a great many of them. I too believe in allowing young people the space to formulate their own opinions about their place in the world and what they will or will not stand for, but this is just blind ignorance on the part of these kids to a great deal of the privilege they enjoy on a daily basis that young people in other countries would gladly, and do, die for.
How apropos that the letter also contained one of the typical anti-semitic statements of the hard Left, so often swept under the rug.
Universities need to decide if they are educational institutions, or activists. Students either go their to get an education, or the industry can become just another community activist network, in which case tuition had better go down accordingly.
“There” not “their”!
Maybe there will be a change in their thoughts after today’s Ohio campus shootings?
I wouldn’t hold my breath
Sadly, this is a result of parents abdicating parenting in order to be their kids “friends”. This leaves kids feeling rootless without a strong family to cling to in time of need they make their own families out of like kids on their campuses. They whip each other up, stir in a socialist professor and what do you have? Another fine mess!
The District police force is policing the district in which they live, the campus police force is policing the campus, and now they want a police force to police the district and the campus police forces.
Next they’ll be protesting against the police state.
Scott – they could demand the National Guard take over. That could only go well. 😉
To me, this is what happens when a country becomes too wealthy and does not have a counter “bad” guy around to worry about. This is somewhat a consequence of the Soviet Union breaking up. Without them around we are the only perceived super power and so, we look around and and attack ourselves. I see the same thing in a micro-level with the liberal wealthy elite, they have no worries about tomorrow’s next meal/mortgage payment, so many of them attack the very lifestyle that they are living or worse, the ones that the commoners are trying to survive in.
You make a good point Jim22. Nothing is more of a unifier than an existential threat. People have to put aside their petty differences for the greater need–survival. Just like the neoconservatives who are so desperate for a purpose that they have doubled-down on making a threat out of Russia, to these hollow souls who have had all their needs met in a cocoon of existence. Times will change here soon. Our money is about to go over the rails, so many things will fundamentally change. It will be interesting at the very least.
“Our money is about to go over the rails, so many things will fundamentally change.”
Well, sure, many things might change – they usually do. But what is the evidence that ‘our money is about to go over the rails’?
FED policy is probably going to stay much the same, unless congress changes the make up of the FED.
And with a Republican congress fiscal policy will almost certainly remain much the same – austere. If no one has noticed the inflation rate has been around 2%, or less, for years. In some recent years, real interest rates have been negative – investors were literally paying the US to store their money!!! If anything the risk is for deflation – money being able to buy more goods and services, not less.
It seems to me the outlook for the dollar is lookin’ pretty good.
I don’t know how you can believe all this government stats, BFM. Heck, the cost of food alone would account for more than 2%. Negative interest rates are here too. Not called that, but that is certainly what is at the heart of our HSA news we just received.
@slorss29: “I don’t know how you can believe all this government stats … Heck, the cost of food alone would account for more than 2%. Negative interest rates are here too. ”
Inflation rates, regardless of how they are calculated, are averages of many prices. You can’t just look at a single price or the prices from goods form a single sector of the economy and make any sense about the overall inflation rate. For example, in our area, my subjective view is that beef is up the past year, but gasoline is way down. Even if I had been keeping good records on beef and gasoline in our area, there are still tens of thousands of other prices that all should be included in the mix.
There are reasonable debates on how to weight components to measure the inflation rate. That in part may account for why even the government keeps several time series that measure inflation.
Where I do have a real problem is with some who claim there is a conspiracy to manipulate economic statistics including the inflation rate.
I think there are two kinds of data that undermine any claims of conspiracy. The first is, they have never put forward any evidence to show who is actually doing what to the numbers. The data collection for economic statistics is so vast it seems, if there were a conspiracy, someone somewhere would step forward with real information about how the numbers are manipulated.
The second kind of data comes from academic departments that keep their own data and estimates of how the economy is doing. If you are interested you can google the MIT Billion Prices Index. Speaking broadly, their agreement is usually pretty good with the official statistics. If there were significant differences you can count on researchers furthering their careers by writing papers to document the discrepancy.
The fact is there is little in government that is as transparent or as well documented as economic statistics. It is really hard to lie when everything is right there in the open.
bfm – we know they (the gubment) are playing with some statistics because they always revise them after the first big announcement. The revision is always printed in the back pages. There is always the changing of values in the set of variables. And then there is the ever popular deleting of some items in the statistics and not replacing them.
@Paul Schulte
I think you have raised two interesting issues. But I believe there are reasonable explanations for both.
From the government web page bea.gov we have an explanation of why the government revises monthly statistics:
“The public wants accurate data and wants it as soon as possible. To meet that need, BEA publishes early estimates that are based on partial data. Even though these data aren’t complete, they do provide an accurate general picture of economic activity. They capture the direction and trends of various components of the economy, providing valuable information that businesses and government leaders depend on and react to. They provide an “early read” on what’s happening in the economy.”
Essentially, the explanation is that the government publishes preliminary estimates that are useful, but later revises the numbers for accuracy.
I am not aware of serious claim that prices for goods or services are being removed to manipulate the numbers. As I mentioned, there are several measures of inflation. They do not all include the same items. Typically, a slightly different ‘market basket of good and services’ is used to better measure the effects of inflation of different groups. For example, seniors may drive much less than younger members of the population. As a result changes in price of gasoline, either up or down, may have much less of an impact on them. In this hypothetical case it would make sense to decrease the impact of gasoline on inflation rate used to calculate adjustments for SSI or pension benefits.
Where I have hear much debate relates to the formulas used to calculate inflation. If you are interested in one view of this you might google Shadow Government Statistics web site. That site calculates inflation on the basis to two formulas that were used decades ago by the government. The result does differ significantly from the currently used indices. It should be noted that Shadow Government Statistics is not about a conspiracy. The concern expressed by Shadow Government Statistics relates to which is the best statistical tool to describe inflation.
So the question is which approach gives us the best understanding of what is happening to prices. I don’t expect there to ever be an answer to what is the best index to measure inflation. And I think the conversation is good.
But if anyone tells you the government is lying because unemployment is near 40% or that hyperinflation is just around the corner, you probably ought to change the topic and plan a graceful exit as soon as possible.
To many demands leads to disorder in the court.
Irony. This horse manure whining is what helped elect Trump.
Hmmm, I wonder when these students will grow up?
It aggrieves me that these are likely kids that have never stood on their own two feet, never paid a mortgage or even a car payment, likely don’t pay taxes (and may never, depending on their families of origin), etc. I understand the naive idealism of youth, I do not understand the aggression and rage. I blame the parents, and only the parents.
Modern society may provide plenty of bait, but individuals decide themselves whether or not to take it. It would be great for all of these little darlings (and perhaps their elders, as well!) to spend a couple of years in a country where there is no security team and there is no 911 to call. It also elicits a forehead slap heard ’round the world that these kids think they are exhibiting ‘critical thinking’, of which at some point empathy, understanding, and causal relationships (through conscious actions, not dogmatic, propagandized and ultimately wet noodle manifesto temper tantrums) are intended to become a part. All I can see in these situations is that they still want ‘mom and dad’ to fix it. Good luck with that, kiddos.
James – “I blame the parents, and only the parents.”
Don’t give a pass to the 13 years of govt. monopolized public education (indoctrination) that proceeds college. Public comprises a large amount of the time budget of a kids life.
True, that! Nevertheless, many of them seem to be lacking something more fundamental, as if their springing from the womb was the last time springing of any sort occurred.
James,
You and Jim bring up two very important points: 1. They seem to lack the most fundamental of human needs; critical-thinking skills. 2. Add to that, they have spent their entire lives being told what to think. It is not inconceivable that to break these chains, it will require some sort of significant emotional event before they can begin to question their own limited worldview.
I agree completely. I am hoping that said ’emotional event’ is as simple as entering the world after graduation. They seem to believe that they will be in the nucleus of academia, safe in their safe spaces, forever. I say none of this lightly, either, as my wife is a teacher at the middle school level, and everything you have observed, Olly, is all too common. We see it with exhausting regularity.