“…honor my identity and my struggle at Harvard.” I wish my generation wasn’t so self entitled and spoiled that we feel what we have to go through in 2017 is equal to a true struggle. Richard Theodore Greener had a true struggle paving the way for other blacks to attend Harvard. You on the other hand have it quite easy. I really don’t understand this kind of collectivist rhetoric which intends to amalgamate all black Harvard struggles into one neat bundle devoid of the nuances of individual struggles. Not every blacks experience is the same at Harvard so what are these shared struggles? I’m guessing that by nobody mentioning them they are either A) trivial under scrutiny or B) they are incapable of articulating this “struggle.” I have no issues with groups wanting to have a special graduation ceremony but please don’t try to hide this under celebrating your particular minority group. Just own up to the fact that you are in favor of identity politics but only when it suits you. Moreover these ceremonies based on identity only server to perpetuate the growing divides between students. If these students came from low socioeconomic backgrounds and went to a school not nearly as left leaning as Harvard then I would have more empathy. This just comes across as pretentious college kids going off the deep end again.
Archives For April 30, 2017
Interesting perspective as always from Mr. Hitchens. He certainly has the ability to bring historical precedence and past policies people have long forgotten into today’s discourse. Certainly a claim good be made that the current form of democracy is no longer working adequately and ought to be re-examined. I too feel that the complacency on the part of the masses is in part to blame for the heightened tension between government and people. Macron has a tough task which he clearly is not capable of doing. Le Pen might be knocked down but her movement will continue to grow as the discontent builds. So much uncertainty in the air. These temporary fixes will only last so long.
This is probably the most asinine article I have come across in a very long time. This manifesto could not be anymore condescending if it tried. The author is essentially saying that if you don’t conform to the collective utilitarian agenda on public education you are a bad person. Don’t want your kids getting a poor education? You are a bad person. Don’t want to wait generations till public schools miraculously start working properly? Bad person. The author had the gall to even suggest that educational ignorance is adequate in navigating today’s world. I think this individual has clearly been so indoctrinated in the left’s religious fanatical belief in equality at all costs that she fails to realize the eventual harm this would have on society. Moreover she gives no clear indication for any public school reforms that would be taking place in the meantime while your kids are meant to be obtaining this sub par education for the greater good. Personally I attended private schools in middle and high school primarily due to the fact that the local public school would not offer an adequate education unless you were in their elite 1% of students. I am fortunate for my parents sacrificing time and money to give me a fighting chance rather than allow me to be stuck in the quagmire of public education. If anything this author’s reasoning is a prime example of why we need better education immediately because her reasoning is abysmal. I hope this is merely satire because if it isn’t its probably the worst regressive social engineering ideas ever recorded.
So as was predicted by me and countless others, Macron was victorious in defeating Le Pen and her right wing coalition. While Le Pen was not a terrible candidate her affiliation with her party and their past offensive rhetoric ultimately appears to be the cause for her unfavorability. Macron despite winning by a large margin of victory at 65% is still relatively unpopular with the populace who seem more content with a bureaucrat out of dislike for the National Front. Will this come back to bite them? I believe so and here is why.
Macron is essentially doomed from the start. In the coming weeks, Macron will be tasked with setting up his strategic alliances in a bid to gain total control over the government machinery. If unable to gain these alliances, Macron will have an extremely difficult time getting anything accomplished while president of France and will go the way of Sarkozy and Hollande. On the issue of Islamic extremism and immigration Macron must not renege on his campaign rhetoric and move in the opposite direction as his predecessors did. If he were to do so then he can expect to see Le Pen again and this time he might not be so fortunate. Double-digit unemployment, serious terrorist threats, the European migrant crisis, E.U. corruption, and ballooning public debt are the troubles that lay ahead for Macron and frankly I don’t believe his centrist platform will placate enough issues facing France. I will give him credit though for moving the French economic agenda away from failed central economic planning and moving towards a more free market capital approach.
Macron’s victory means that the E.U. will not go down without a wimper but I believe it will still go down nonetheless, just more slowly. The people across Europe appear to be wising up to the political aims of this bureaucracy whose end goals appear to be the destruction of national identity in the name of select economic gain. This is why the right has and will continue to gain traction in the political sphere so long as the E.U. continues to flounder. While Macron’s election may present a slightly more difficult negotiation with Britain over Brexit I suspect it won’t change much of the overall outcome of their leaving. Britain maintaining its own currency lends itself to be in a better strategic position. Ultimately Macron winning means the E.U. no longer has any scapegoats when problems arise, which they will.
Now to those who are now gloating that political “Trumpism” is dead with the loss of Le Pen, I feel some things need to be pointed out. While these native protectionist candidates might not appear to be doing well in the overall elections they are being effective in changing the tonality of the political discourse. Their ideas and beliefs can no long be ignored and large swaths of the population are finding their views appealing. An example of this was Austria’s president passing some legislation on religious dress aimed at curtailing niqabs and burqas. Its starting to create this interesting dichotomy where the countryside and rural areas of the countries are starting to rebel against the directions and ideas put forth by the wealthy urbanites. This does not bode well for resolving a continuously fracturing population. Not only does it pit people against each other but it increases the possibility of violent conflict and revolution. Obviously I am not condoning that course of action but it must be said for the fact that revolutions typically come from the countryside and make their way into the city, rarely the other way around. At the celebratory speech of Macron instead of coming on stage to the sounds of La Marseillaise he came on stage to the E.U. anthem. That says it all.
A clearer picture of the future will be realized in the coming French elections in June as well as the elections in Germany in September.
Some important points were brought up in this article which highlight the overarching problems with the politicization of science. Science is not a religion or belief system but a method by which we utilize our intellect to better understand the physical world. It is not a method for establishing morality nor is it an authority in the realm of politics. It truly appears that these pseudo-pop-scientists are content to promote political advocacy by masquerading as a scientific authority whose claims must be revered. I agree with the conclusion that if these “scientists” continue to discredit science in the same vain that the media has been discredited then we are in for some serious trouble.
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2017/04/the-real-anti-science
The French election is coming up soon but I don’t the outcome changing all that much. That being said it does appear that Le Pen is making up some ground but still has a way to go. Macron it appears is feeling the pressure from the far right to push for more EU reforms. I personally don’t think this gesture will be enough although a “Frexit” does appear to be unlikely. The EU has long shown itself to be a bureaucratic nightmare and the end goals are to create one nation state with one European identity. I feel Macron will perform better from an economic and cultural sense but his chaining himself to the sinking ship that is the EU is troubling.
Acerbity [əˈsɜːbɪtɪ] 