1 in 5 young adults think Holocaust is a myth

Not saying this is accurate or inaccurate, but young people are also way more likely to troll a poll

 

I have been preaching for years here that antisemitism was real on the rise. Yes there can be a world of difference between disagreeing with Israel and being antisemetic, but much of the leadership of the country has allowed the two to be one. It’s ok now to lump all Jews with Israel, or call for the only Jewish nation to be exteriminated. That was the quiet part for many years, but now it’s wide open to see. The testimony from the Ivy presidents last week was the final straw. Antisemitism has been mainstreamed, and with that comes the license for all this other garbage.
Long road back from here.

 

You somewhat had me until the bold.

 

I’m gonna go with morons.

A survey from the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy found that 7% of American adults think chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

Chocolate milk definitely doesn't come from brown cows -- but some adults think otherwise | CNN.

 

Have you guys read some of the posts on these boards on any number of things? Ignorance is not the sole province of the young.

 

What's sickening is how many folks are outraged over the idea of elite universities actually adhering to the free speech values most people have (rightfully) demanded they adopt. Here is Penn's stated policy on hate speech (for example):
Free Speech FAQs | Supporting our community in times of crisis
What about hate speech?
Hate speech is very hard to define in a way that would allow institutions to address it. Even if we could define it, we could not prevent or punish hate speech, because it is protected under the First Amendment. While as a private institution we are not subject to the First Amendment, the University’s policies have embraced these values. Universities can invest their efforts and resources in educating their members and in creating spaces and contexts for productive dialogue, but they cannot legitimately punish members — students, staff, and faculty — who choose not to participate in those, or who profess bigoted and other hateful views. This is especially true in open and public spaces, like Locust Walk. We can address classroom speech and behaviors that disrupt learning, but what our community members say in public spaces, including those spaces that are part of our campus, is only subject to discipline if the inflammatory speech intentionally and effectively provokes a crowd to immediately carry out violent and unlawful action. This means that if someone voices hateful views, the only appropriate response that can come from the community takes the form of disagreement, rejection, or offering alternative (or even ignoring the hateful statements, which may not deserve our attention).
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The (former) president's comments actually reflected this policy. And they were legally correct. I fully support policies like these. It is good when private universities adopt robust speech protections. But hey, people got their way. She's no longer the president at Penn, and influential donors are trying to push for new policies that restrict speech. I believe forcing her out of the presidency is what we call a Pyrrhic victory.

(I'm not saying those university presidents couldn't have done a better job. I'm simply saying that a lot of folks allowed Elise Stefanik's disingenuous questions to bait them into undermining free speech on college campuses.)

 

1 in 5 people are trolls who just want to disrupt.

 

Imagine if a group of students went on campus and declared that black people should be exterminated. What would happen? Every one of them would be gone for bullying, creating an unsafe atmosphere, violating basic principles of student interaction etc. deservedly. But yet this required “context”. It was an abomination of an answer, and has already cost at least one of them their jobs. It’s cost Harvard about a billion in donations, Penn is in the 8 figures too.
It was the natural end of the path the dialogue has been heading towards for years. Somehow when you hate Israel you’re allowed to hate Jews too, even though there are millions of Jews who don’t agree with many of Israel’s policies either.

 

Harvard's Catastrophic Hypocrisy

That’s an interesting assertion. The truth is that Harvard’s commitment to free inquiry is inconsistent, at best. Last year, Harvard disinvited feminist philosopher Devin Buckley for comments critical of transgender ideology. In 2021, pressured by student activists, Harvard canceled a course on innovative police tactics. In 2020, political science instructor David Kane was canned after inviting renowned social scientist Charles Murray, author of the controversial The Bell Curve, to speak to his class. Harvard admitted Kyle Kashuv, the only conservative to emerge among the Parkland activists, and then revoked his offer for comments he’d made regarding race. Heck, in 2021, Harvard ordered students to remove a possibly “offensive” Nicki Minaj flag.


It's leftist brain-lock. When two historically oppressed or marginalized groups are in conflict they blow a circuit. (Must. Support. Most. Marginalized. Group.) MSMMG is horrible ideology, but it has that nice property of not requiring critical thinking.

 

Penn's policy is clear that is protected speech, as long as they're not engaging in targeted threats or harassment (i.e., the same answer given when it dealt with Jewish genocide). Hell, Stefanik tried to ask the Harvard president that question and then cut her off twice when it was clear she was going to give the same answer.

 

Agreed. That's why we should be holding their feet to the fire on adhering to robust free speech protections. The outrage following that Congressional hearing accomplished the opposite.

 

I don’t disagree with any of this. I guess my biggest question is this: on which campuses are there massive groups of students calling for the genocide of all Jews? Is this actually happening somewhere? Or is this a hypothetical? Are we considering chanting “from the river to the sea” a call for genocide? Is that the same thing as chanting “all Jews should die?” Sure doesn’t seem like it to me.

 

Here's a question(s).
1. why in god's name were these presidents testifying in front of congress?
2. Why did congress get involved?

My outrage is 95% directed at the idiocy of having our fed gov involved & the stupidity of the prezs not telling 'em to go to hell.

 

I disagree. I am not an alum, customer, employee etc. I treat this like Disney. Let 'em do what they want. I'm all for it being exposed & letting the mkt/people decide.

 

That's fine. I don't share your opinion on this. We as a society should pressure private universities to voluntarily adopt free speech and academic freedom principles that are on par with what the First Amendment requires of public universities. It furthers the purpose of universities. (Of course, California actually requires this of its private universities by state law.)

 

And in the testimony, Harvard had revoked acceptance letters for racist speech. So yeah, some bigotry is apparently worse than others for some of these schools. Heck, UF rescinded a football scholarship offer for a kid who simply sang along to rap lyrics that had the N word.
But my point wasn’t that the presidents are anti-semetic, it’s that what they allow and don’t allow is part of a broader pattern, even beyond campuses, of giving cover to those who are actually anti-Semitic under the guise of political speech. It’s allowed anti-semitism to explode.

I’ve mentioned it before, but the temple in Tampa my family goes to actually needs private security protection and security doors when they have services. That’s the world we live in.

 

cali unis have cancelled many "free speeches" as I am sure you are aware. I read an article in the Berkeley student newspaper that argued certain speech was violence & hence, should be met with violence. While you'd be hard pressed to find more of an advocate for free speech than me, I am not for government requiring any private entity to require it internally.*

* example. 2 summers ago I cussed my own mom & her boyfriend out for anti-semetic speech in my house. Told em to STFU or GTFO. My wife's already told me, I gotta give a warning prior to their holiday visit this year.