Friday, January 28, 2011

Ugh

I had a great time in college at Washington University in St. Louis.  Great school, great time, but they are never, ever, getting another dollar of my money.  This decision was made a while ago after this shining example of tolerance and willingness to openly exchange ideas that made me sick


I thought that conservatives were the ones guilty of epistemic closure, not liberals.  I thought liberals lived in the reality based world and had open minds and were willing to debate because they were confident that they had the facts and truths on their side to win the day.  I thought conservatives had their "Digital Brown shirts" (Hat tip Al Gore!) out to silence debate and dissent on the other side.  I guess that is why Republicans are pushing to bring back the Fairness Doctrine or labeling their ideological counterparts as the people who inspire others to murder innocents  or hell even just calling them Nazis because they do not think the government should be in charge of health care.

I love this quote

Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz shares with his students a strategy for successfully defending cases. If the facts are on your side, Dershowitz says, pound the facts into the table. If the law is on your side, pound the law into the table. If neither the facts nor the law are on your side, pound the table.

I would love to have an honest debate over the size of the government and the correct role of taxation, spending, regulation et al based on facts and reality but the majority of the time the conversation on the other side goes right to pounding on the table, saying that I am Darwinist, Racist, Hate the poor, Hate women, minorities etc etc.  It is partly my fault because, according to people that will remain unamed (Nicki) I am "Loud" and "A bully."  Such is life.

Finally, more WashU cowardice.

Play a little game with me, if this girl's last name was Smith, Jones or even Pelosi, would there be the same protest?  

Look, I really do not like the frequency with which I am put in the position of defending the Palins.  I am an extreme Hayek fan and fiscal conservative but not a culture warrior or raging social con.  I believe in a culture of self reliance and personal responsibility but I think that is best fostered by getting people off the government teat, getting bureaucrats out of the way of the economy and allowing people to count on themselves for security and prosperity rather a Giant Nanny State.  I like Sarah Palin, I admire decisions she has made in her life and respect what she has accomplished, but I am not a Sarah 2012 banner waver (I prefer Christie or Rubio) but her and her family deserve to be treated better than they are.  Can you imagine if someone said this about a liberal woman?  As it is we hear the same outrage from the feminists that we heard about Clinton.  Or about the way Islam treats women.  Curious double standards abound.  

In conclusion, the sooner the liberal higher education bubble pops the better.

2 comments:

  1. Although I'll never be able to support the "Palin Movement" (the celebration of ignorance disturbs me), it is disappointing that the liberal base at Wash U isn't more open minded toward ideas foreign to them. That said, Bristol's $20,000 speaker fee is outrageous. I simply don't agree with the assertion that famous people have equally famous children until they actually do something to earn it (Dancing with the Stars doesn't count, being Governor of Alaska does). If I were a current student, I would be upset that my fees were being wasted on artificial celebrity as well.

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  2. Joel
    20K was for the panel as a whole, not just Bristol, her personal fee was not disclosed. If her fee was in line with the other speakers I don't really have a problem with that

    As for the whole Palin movement, framed as a "celebration of ignorance" it is disconcerting. I subscribe more to the school of the questioning of credentials, that just because you went to the (insert ivy league school here) means you are an expert on everything. In that regard I am 100% on board. I don't think there is enough intellectual diversity provided by the environment from under the rocks where our political class crawls from

    Closing with Buckley
    "I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University."

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