Re: however, this is a tragic situation

While the article identifies a situation in which a political conservative might consider himself a victim, it's telling that the writer does not exhort conservatives to action based on such a victim status. Indeed, "conservative" might lose its highly political connotations in a university setting where liberal activism is at the center of the political spectrum. In such a setting, a student not particularly interested in the same political issues or activist methods might be a conservative if a label is necessary.

 

The consequence of "conservative" meaning somehwat apathetic, or uninterested in collective action, is clear: Even on campuses committed to intellectual diversity, rarely will people whose opinions and/or backgrounds truly represent a contribution to this kind of diversity challenge the university's claim to live up to its principles. 

 

Perhaps this is the best thing. Academia is irrelevant to a great many people in our society, and to challenge it based on the notion that it even should live up to a higher standard than one would expect in general society flatters it far too much.

 

luke

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Omlor@aol.com
Sent: Sep 27, 2003 7:48 AM
To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
Subject: Re: however, this is a tragic situation

Awwwwww,

Poor oppressed conservatives.  My perpetually bleeding heart now bleeds for them.

And I do get to teach Plato's The Republic, just like in sad, underprivileged little Harvard Ph.D. Gary's dreams.

Won't you send us just one dollar day, and adopt one of these poor, starving conservative academics?  You can make a hungry young Ivy League scholar's dreams come true....

I guess life is just so much easier for those of us who weren't born on the wrong side of the tracts.

This whole article is, of course, silly.  There are a great number of conservatives just in my hallway alone.  Our Medievalist makes George Bush look like Gene McCarthy.  But I guess it's always good policy to make yourself the victim, even for those who decry the new popularity of victimhood everywhere else.

What hypocritical nonsense.

--John