You may choose to rationalize it away, and I’m not claiming to have metaphysical proof, but first, it feels a bit like splitting hairs to me anyway - so, we can conclude that the climate on campuses is no problem if the rise in anti-semitism on campuses is in line with that in the rest of the country? Or can we conclude that this isn’t so new in academia, helping transmit these attitudes as it send kids out into the world.

Another study by Brandeis, a heavily Jewish Boston-area school, from 2016. Again, to Charleston’s points - this oppressor/oppressed thing in academia didn’t spontaneously spring to life on Oct 8. And the Brandeis study highlights the opposite of your constant refrain - opposition to Israel spills over into anti-semitism.

I just watched Maher from last night - opening joke about the recent U pres hearings - any calls for Jewish genocide need context. Of course if you misgender a Jew you’re immediately expelled. The freedom of speech they claimed so much concern for in contextualizing calls for mass murders of Jews - it has not existed on any of those campuses (Penn and Harvard in particular scoring very low in free expression surveys, according to his opening guest) for years.

My opinion - in this environment, the evidence of this illiberalism on college campuses that can convince the American left there’s a problem simply does not exist. When some here are happy to see consequences to the Penn pres, the lefty responses tend to be rationalizations (who cares if they didn’t attend that school!) or straw men (you think that woman is an anti-Semite? Huh? Huh? Well, nobody said they thought she was an anti-Semite). In-group closing ranks protectively around (what it perceives as) its own, no matter how much evidence anyone shows you, because the REAL existential threat is from this rwnj!

The threats to our democracy can (and do imo) come from both our extremes. That usually triggers rationalization about it being worse on the right. I’m sure you know I agree. But that’s not a guaranteed permanent condition, and the left today looks much like the right 8 yrs ago, as Trumpism swallowed it whole.

There’s evidence, Balz, to answer your question. I don’t disagree that the flashing red lights bright enough to make the left take notice are not even theoretically possible. Just like the right, only a few years ago.





[Post edited by hoolstoptheheels at 12/09/2023 09:36AM]