Wednesday, July 25, 2007
"The World Must Learn That What We Say Goes..." or Academic Freedom?
You may have read about the firing of University of Colorado Prof Ward Churchill? Well, it is all because of this essay. They say it is about other stuff, but I've followed this story for awhile, and I suspect that had he never wrote this essay, he would be continuing to build his retirement nest egg and pissing off rich kids in gen ed classes. Once again, do read the essay (here or here , or if you really want to get audited, buy his book here).
So, since when is it strange for an academic to point out the wars and disparity that result from globalism and capitalism? Whether you agree with the "radical leftist" views from many profs or not, this sort of firing should creep you out. The deck is already pretty stacked against any of these lefty messages even taking serious root, so why is it so scary to the establishment? I thought part of college was to expand your views, and most of us have had those few radical and/or screwball and/or brilliant profs that espouse stuff that blows away your reality. That is a vital part of getting something out of college. I read the essay, and I guess I've been enured to lefty stuff (and agree with plenty of it), because it didn't seem that shocking to me. The basic premise? If you go out and try to tell everyone what to do, and while doing so, you enact policies that hurt and kill many people, people will end up resenting and hating you... Churchill quotes Bush the Elder when he says "The world must learn that what we say goes..." which was also in the title of a Chomsky book and this essay. Remember, no one likes a bully, especially one that pitches like a girly girl...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Oh David Hasselhoff, I love you sooo much!!!
Who is the Hasselhoff dude? He must look like me or something...
He wishes he looked like you!!!
Post a Comment