A fine piece again. You hit the nail on the head: it’s a collision of two malevolent forces- anti America with faulty parenting. Some people say the drug menace in the West is also perhaps because of these two factors.
Empty lives need a cause to feel good about themselves.
When you're on "the right side of history" anything is justified... These people have no moral compass to guide them. They just drift, and glom onto whatever is trending on Tik Tok. If the algos changed, you could find the same citizens out protesting against Hamas next month. There is no reasoning or thought behind this, I suspect, it's just follow the leader. Pathetic. This is such a lame side of humanity.
Another great piece. I really appreciate your incisive analysis and style. I also appreciate your inclusion of a critique of American parenting styles and the "kindergarten vibe" observation. I'm watching all of this in disbelief but then I have also been baffled by how colleagues and friends are raising their kids - constant affirmation and acceptance. We talk to youth (up to 28 years old) as if we are in a pediatric therapy session - asking where they feel things in their bodies or what color might represent their feelings, etc. It's bizarre and cult-like. It teaches nothing about self regulation or growing up. Then they become unhinged and dangerous as we are seeing. And still, parents will affirm.....
"Sound like a lot more fun than studying for finals." More fun and very easy, with the added benefit of being part of the crowd and signaling a self-congratulating righteousness. I'll bet there aren't many, if any, STEM majors in those crowds of revolutionaries. I had to laugh at a short clip taken in a math class at MIT. The professor had to let an activist student in to campaign briefly. He came in waving his "Palestinian" flag. The math students looked completely detached, waiting for him to leave so they could get back to work. Any who compare Israel to apartheid South Africa are immature and not worth listening to. The comparison should be apartheid SA and the campus mobs. I say this as one who, as a 12-yr-old in the early 70's, wrote a SA embassy and told them I was interested in learning more about the country. They thought I was an apartheid supporter and for the next 10 years or so I received the government propaganda paper, South African Digest. The similarity between the old SA government propaganda and the babbling from the campus mobs is striking.
To the numbskull on Columbia's campus in pink sunglasses and matching nail polish: college is not Sunday school. You were assigned Edward Said not to receive it as gospel but to critique it--to critically dissect Said's arguments alongside a variety of other texts offering varying points of view.
Here's the rub. This current generation of undergrads probably was taught Said by someone who did present it as gospel, accompanied by, if anything, the works of Frantz Fanon and the Little Red Book. If there is a silver lining to all this, academic leaders will wake up to the monsters they've been producing and re-producing and finally start to take seriously the idea of intellectual/ideological diversity. At a university, that is the only diversity that matters.
I wish the protesters would just hold up signs that say PEACE and nothing more because there is no more to say. Then I would believe in what they are doing and support that movement wholeheartedly. Anything else, any side taking that results in the murder of anyone, anywhere (i.e. military actions or terrorism) will not solve the problems and we will continually only get more death and war. What are we all thinking? Like how is this going to solve anything? Nothing is ever solved, is it?
Peace. There is no more to say. Whether we like it or not it is quite simple and will come down to that some day and I am tired of innocent human beings being murdered for us to get there.
Sin has been around for a very long time and antisemitism is sin on steroids; it seems to be manifesting itself all over these days particularly as a hobby for misguided youth whose naivete is exceeded only by arrogance. With the return of Jesus Christ getting closer every day, Satan knows that his time is limited, and this stuff is getting worse. Stay close to Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel.
SPDS - student protester derangement syndrome, a sudden, irrational urge to denigrate a protest against an obviously problematic war, prompting the sufferer to use all the standard tricks of political spin and rhetorical exaggeration (selectivity, overgeneralization, reliance on certain sources of information) to portray all student protesters as hysterical and superficial. In 1968, while soldiers were raping and machine gunning Vietnamese women, you would have been making fun of the flowers in the protesters' hair.
We should all join you in criticising the hypocrisy of the universities. But I honestly do not know what makes someone get this mad at people who are almost expressing a protected belief about what have to be at least 15,000+ dead civilians, a number that is sure to climb as the Rafah offensive likely proceeds.
The protesters have not decided that "their real enemy is…Zionism", they have decided that zionism is the enemy of *palestinians *. Disagree with that all you want, march down there yourself and tell them why they're wrong. But sneering at 19 year-olds via a series of disconnected hot takes while comfortably ensconced behind a screen is both dishonorable and sad.
Excellent essay, the most interesting section for me was the discussion about Soros sowing discord. But Soros is not the only member of the billionaire class doing this and it certainly did not begin with him. It's upsetting that conservative media quickly dismisses the current ubiquity of post-modernist values in the West as "Marxist" or Communist" when in fact the corporate capitalist class has been the financial sponsor all along. I've yet to see a special by any prominent journalist, including Tucker Carlson, discussing how billionaire philanthropists have been destroying the foundations of Western societies since the 60s.
An excellent starting point is Heather McDonald's essay from 1996 "The billions of Dollars that made things worse" discussing the role of the Ford Foundation in every major disruptive movement since the 60s. Ever wondered how feminist/chicano/black studies permeated universities across America, look no further than Ford Foundation grants. Wondering who created the models for the failed welfare state adopted by Johnson's "Great Society," Ford Foundation. Ever asked yourself how affirmative action (the foundation of preferential treatment in America today) was adopted by every major institution in America, look no further than the arguments of McGeorge Bundy, Kennedy national security advisor and President of the Ford Foundation.
If you've ever asked yourself why criminals are coddled in America, and how wanting to lower crime is called racist and police are under attack, look no further than funding from a variety of foundations. Deinstitutionalization of mental hospitals in the 60s and 70s, foundations to the rescue once more. Last but not least, climate change and the attack against fossil fuel extraction is sponsored by none other than the scions of the oil industry such as prominent members of the Rockefeller and Getty families. It could be argued that American philanthropy, as practiced by the largest foundations, such as Ford/Carnegie/Rockefeller/ are the worst things to happen to America and Western civilization. Yet most conservatives think philanthropy is another one of those great innovations of the capitalist system that has enabled the progress of the West.
There are a variety of explanations for why the winners of capitalist system are attacking the societies in which they live freely, but until independent journalists start asking the question: "Why are porminent members of the top 1% trying to destroy the system from which they benefit through philanthropy?" we may never find out what the hell is going on. Perhaps that's the point altogether.
Brilliant article, Jenny. Extremely well written, the restrained anger in every line was delicious and made your argument perfect in pitch. I think you were too fair on the 1968 Vietnam demonstrations at Kent though. All of that was so cynical, just like what’s going on now. Those cosplay students of yesteryear only became really interested in the war after Johnson went after their colleges with the draft. It was all perfectly fine for them when working class white and black boys were doing the dying beforehand. It’s worthwhile noting that many of those that squeezed out of it, like Biden who had the draft deferred an incredible five times, are now running the US via the White House and Civil Service! It seems no coincidence that those destroying the American dream right now for their own political ends are those the burnt the flag back on those soul destroying demonstrations! As far Soros and other bad actors are concerned, they can spend as much money as they like trying to bring down the west with their falsehoods because, at the end of the day, the wisdom of the crowd will always trump their lies. Especially today, we are far too well informed by social media for them to get away with it - no wonder our political elite want to shut it down! Keep up the good fight. Love your stuff.
The whole Soros thing is deliberately exaggerated by poor journalism. The WaPo had a thorough article on it yesterday explaining that bits of money via various grants had reached the students. Some several years ago. Yet all this becomes the evil Mr. Soros is funding agitation. He is the favorite boogyman.
A fine piece again. You hit the nail on the head: it’s a collision of two malevolent forces- anti America with faulty parenting. Some people say the drug menace in the West is also perhaps because of these two factors.
Empty lives need a cause to feel good about themselves.
When you're on "the right side of history" anything is justified... These people have no moral compass to guide them. They just drift, and glom onto whatever is trending on Tik Tok. If the algos changed, you could find the same citizens out protesting against Hamas next month. There is no reasoning or thought behind this, I suspect, it's just follow the leader. Pathetic. This is such a lame side of humanity.
Another great piece. I really appreciate your incisive analysis and style. I also appreciate your inclusion of a critique of American parenting styles and the "kindergarten vibe" observation. I'm watching all of this in disbelief but then I have also been baffled by how colleagues and friends are raising their kids - constant affirmation and acceptance. We talk to youth (up to 28 years old) as if we are in a pediatric therapy session - asking where they feel things in their bodies or what color might represent their feelings, etc. It's bizarre and cult-like. It teaches nothing about self regulation or growing up. Then they become unhinged and dangerous as we are seeing. And still, parents will affirm.....
"Sound like a lot more fun than studying for finals." More fun and very easy, with the added benefit of being part of the crowd and signaling a self-congratulating righteousness. I'll bet there aren't many, if any, STEM majors in those crowds of revolutionaries. I had to laugh at a short clip taken in a math class at MIT. The professor had to let an activist student in to campaign briefly. He came in waving his "Palestinian" flag. The math students looked completely detached, waiting for him to leave so they could get back to work. Any who compare Israel to apartheid South Africa are immature and not worth listening to. The comparison should be apartheid SA and the campus mobs. I say this as one who, as a 12-yr-old in the early 70's, wrote a SA embassy and told them I was interested in learning more about the country. They thought I was an apartheid supporter and for the next 10 years or so I received the government propaganda paper, South African Digest. The similarity between the old SA government propaganda and the babbling from the campus mobs is striking.
To the numbskull on Columbia's campus in pink sunglasses and matching nail polish: college is not Sunday school. You were assigned Edward Said not to receive it as gospel but to critique it--to critically dissect Said's arguments alongside a variety of other texts offering varying points of view.
Here's the rub. This current generation of undergrads probably was taught Said by someone who did present it as gospel, accompanied by, if anything, the works of Frantz Fanon and the Little Red Book. If there is a silver lining to all this, academic leaders will wake up to the monsters they've been producing and re-producing and finally start to take seriously the idea of intellectual/ideological diversity. At a university, that is the only diversity that matters.
Thank you, Jenny. We don’t often agree, but I’m with you today!
I wish the protesters would just hold up signs that say PEACE and nothing more because there is no more to say. Then I would believe in what they are doing and support that movement wholeheartedly. Anything else, any side taking that results in the murder of anyone, anywhere (i.e. military actions or terrorism) will not solve the problems and we will continually only get more death and war. What are we all thinking? Like how is this going to solve anything? Nothing is ever solved, is it?
Peace. There is no more to say. Whether we like it or not it is quite simple and will come down to that some day and I am tired of innocent human beings being murdered for us to get there.
Absolutely true. They will only respect Israel when they win. Not love, just respect.
Thank you for resurrecting the term "program" to describer the October 7 massacre. It is well deserved.
Sin has been around for a very long time and antisemitism is sin on steroids; it seems to be manifesting itself all over these days particularly as a hobby for misguided youth whose naivete is exceeded only by arrogance. With the return of Jesus Christ getting closer every day, Satan knows that his time is limited, and this stuff is getting worse. Stay close to Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel.
SPDS - student protester derangement syndrome, a sudden, irrational urge to denigrate a protest against an obviously problematic war, prompting the sufferer to use all the standard tricks of political spin and rhetorical exaggeration (selectivity, overgeneralization, reliance on certain sources of information) to portray all student protesters as hysterical and superficial. In 1968, while soldiers were raping and machine gunning Vietnamese women, you would have been making fun of the flowers in the protesters' hair.
We should all join you in criticising the hypocrisy of the universities. But I honestly do not know what makes someone get this mad at people who are almost expressing a protected belief about what have to be at least 15,000+ dead civilians, a number that is sure to climb as the Rafah offensive likely proceeds.
The protesters have not decided that "their real enemy is…Zionism", they have decided that zionism is the enemy of *palestinians *. Disagree with that all you want, march down there yourself and tell them why they're wrong. But sneering at 19 year-olds via a series of disconnected hot takes while comfortably ensconced behind a screen is both dishonorable and sad.
Awesome piece. I'd send you a congratulatory card, but would I have to mark it "written by a non-Zionist"?
Reminds me of the meme with a patient talking to her therapist:
Patient : I'm really anxious about the climate
Therapist : Have you tried gluing yourself to a pavement?
Excellent essay, the most interesting section for me was the discussion about Soros sowing discord. But Soros is not the only member of the billionaire class doing this and it certainly did not begin with him. It's upsetting that conservative media quickly dismisses the current ubiquity of post-modernist values in the West as "Marxist" or Communist" when in fact the corporate capitalist class has been the financial sponsor all along. I've yet to see a special by any prominent journalist, including Tucker Carlson, discussing how billionaire philanthropists have been destroying the foundations of Western societies since the 60s.
An excellent starting point is Heather McDonald's essay from 1996 "The billions of Dollars that made things worse" discussing the role of the Ford Foundation in every major disruptive movement since the 60s. Ever wondered how feminist/chicano/black studies permeated universities across America, look no further than Ford Foundation grants. Wondering who created the models for the failed welfare state adopted by Johnson's "Great Society," Ford Foundation. Ever asked yourself how affirmative action (the foundation of preferential treatment in America today) was adopted by every major institution in America, look no further than the arguments of McGeorge Bundy, Kennedy national security advisor and President of the Ford Foundation.
If you've ever asked yourself why criminals are coddled in America, and how wanting to lower crime is called racist and police are under attack, look no further than funding from a variety of foundations. Deinstitutionalization of mental hospitals in the 60s and 70s, foundations to the rescue once more. Last but not least, climate change and the attack against fossil fuel extraction is sponsored by none other than the scions of the oil industry such as prominent members of the Rockefeller and Getty families. It could be argued that American philanthropy, as practiced by the largest foundations, such as Ford/Carnegie/Rockefeller/ are the worst things to happen to America and Western civilization. Yet most conservatives think philanthropy is another one of those great innovations of the capitalist system that has enabled the progress of the West.
There are a variety of explanations for why the winners of capitalist system are attacking the societies in which they live freely, but until independent journalists start asking the question: "Why are porminent members of the top 1% trying to destroy the system from which they benefit through philanthropy?" we may never find out what the hell is going on. Perhaps that's the point altogether.
Brilliant article, Jenny. Extremely well written, the restrained anger in every line was delicious and made your argument perfect in pitch. I think you were too fair on the 1968 Vietnam demonstrations at Kent though. All of that was so cynical, just like what’s going on now. Those cosplay students of yesteryear only became really interested in the war after Johnson went after their colleges with the draft. It was all perfectly fine for them when working class white and black boys were doing the dying beforehand. It’s worthwhile noting that many of those that squeezed out of it, like Biden who had the draft deferred an incredible five times, are now running the US via the White House and Civil Service! It seems no coincidence that those destroying the American dream right now for their own political ends are those the burnt the flag back on those soul destroying demonstrations! As far Soros and other bad actors are concerned, they can spend as much money as they like trying to bring down the west with their falsehoods because, at the end of the day, the wisdom of the crowd will always trump their lies. Especially today, we are far too well informed by social media for them to get away with it - no wonder our political elite want to shut it down! Keep up the good fight. Love your stuff.
The whole Soros thing is deliberately exaggerated by poor journalism. The WaPo had a thorough article on it yesterday explaining that bits of money via various grants had reached the students. Some several years ago. Yet all this becomes the evil Mr. Soros is funding agitation. He is the favorite boogyman.
Edward Said. Who was the biggest liar. He wasn’t Palestinian. His crap started a lot of this horseshit.