One of the few benefits of the censorship regimes and dogmatic intellectual regimes freezing the college's is that those who choose to escape are part of a new Wild West of ideas This can be exciting and different as new arguments are made, old ones reevaluated and new forces begin to grow and affect change. I would make a strong case that sub stack is a perfect example of this.
One of the few benefits of the censorship regimes and dogmatic intellectual regimes freezing the college's is that those who choose to escape are part of a new Wild West of ideas This can be exciting and different as new arguments are made, old ones reevaluated and new forces begin to grow and affect change. I would make a strong case that sub stack is a perfect example of this.
These are the thoughts I have as I have been following the decline of academia in the last several years. I cheer quietly that my kids are still young and there is hope for me that the Wild West of thought that you are talking about will shape into something by the time they reach college age. Or at least i will figure out what is the best next step for them.
I hate to imagine my course of action if my kids would have been college age now.
Hard to believe, but my brother, who teaches in post-secondary education himself, is not sending his college-aged kids to college. I have a PhD and have taught a few college courses on the side. But IтАЩm not opposing his decision.
Despite having gone back to college to finish our own degrees in our 30s (which ended up not actually helping our income much, and saddled us with student loan debt we will never be able to pay off), we ended up discouraging our kids from going to college unless they had a clear career path that required college.
Our oldest son managed to use his experience at a local rubber parts factory to get a high-paying job at a tire factory. Our middle son used dual enrollment in high school to get his Associate's Degree from our local community college. He used his job experience as a First Aid attendant at that same local rubber parts factory to get a high-paying job in human resources. Both sons are married and buying their own homes, despite being only 31 and 28 years old.
Our youngest daughter, an artist, started taking classes at the community college as part of a feeder program for an area animation studio. Despite being fairly "woke," she could not stomach some of the material she was required to consume in her gen ed classes and decided against college. She has managed to support herself away from home by choosing decently-paying full-time jobs.
My two kids followed unusual paths but via the college route: full-ride ROTC scholarship with a successful goal of ranger battalion, but now in business, after bailing out of the tailspin that is the army. And a BFA in interior design, in which every course was designed for that career.
But both have been out for more than a decade now and things are SO much worse.
That is the dream. However, I don't see it playing out that way. For a "Wild West of ideas" to exist, there needs to be a significant number of educated/intellectual people willing to have discussions, open forums for those discussions (online or offline), and the ability to have those discussions without the discussions affecting your present and future life.
There are some issues with all of these -- educated people with enough of a perspective on history/philosophy/economics/linguistics/etc are often VERY indoctrinated because the institutions themselves are so captured. Therefore, very few young people (<30 are willing to have these discussions).
For those who *are* willing to think outside the box, the second layer kicks in. The scarcity of spaces in which to discuss those ideas, especially offline. One of the great benefits of the university system was that it provided such a forum for academic discourse and open conversation. It's not the only such space; eg during the enlightenment coffee houses and social clubs often provided such fora. But try going into Starbucks now and discussing the negative effects of DEI-based government contracts on monetary policy and inflation. Yeaaahhh...
As you point out, the internet is a place where such discussions can - and often do - happen. However, the internet is increasingly locked down and censored (see: EU and UK online safety bill, Canada podcast crackdown, etc). It's also a hotbed for misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda campaigns, by government and non-governmental actors. And finally, academia once prided itself on peer review and research, which is something that's easily bypassed online.
The final hurdle is that if you do not self-censor, you may experience harm to your social life or career. A controversial tweet can cost you a job. In our increasingly polarized world, a "Wrong" opinion could lose you friends or family members. In most places outside the US (and likely soon within the US), expressing a bad idea can get you arrested or de-banked. Speech and ideas have consequences. And 30 years ago, if you said something at a bar or among friends, it would stay there. That's not true in our world of digital surveillance.
Instead of increasing diversity of ideas and intellectual discussions, we've seen a very rapid decline in open-mindedness. Yes, there are still spaces where some open discussion happens - this substack is certainly one of them. There are also occasionally some philosophical frameworks being developed and re-evaluated in our new world (Lotus Eaters is a prime example of a few lads who are working to build up a set of discussions and philosophies with a new perspective on classical ideas). But these are few and far between (and so easily either ideologically captured or taken out of existence). Just look at what's happening to Elon Musk by SEC, investors, ADL, and even his own employees, for daring to make Twitter an open forum again.
I believe in the right of nations to defend their history, culture, traditions, and borders -- as much so for Israel as for England. But I understand that's a controversial statement.
That's uncontroversial to me. But several Lotus Eaters hosts go a bit beyond that. They insinuate that certain citizens' views may have more legitimacy than others based on ancestry.
Squishy rightist that I am that is a place I will not, ever, go to.
I) In my review of my life history I credit what I think of as the Starbucks mindset as the beginning of this foolishness. 2) Academic peer review is captured.
One of the few benefits of the censorship regimes and dogmatic intellectual regimes freezing the college's is that those who choose to escape are part of a new Wild West of ideas This can be exciting and different as new arguments are made, old ones reevaluated and new forces begin to grow and affect change. I would make a strong case that sub stack is a perfect example of this.
These are the thoughts I have as I have been following the decline of academia in the last several years. I cheer quietly that my kids are still young and there is hope for me that the Wild West of thought that you are talking about will shape into something by the time they reach college age. Or at least i will figure out what is the best next step for them.
I hate to imagine my course of action if my kids would have been college age now.
Plan now.
Hard to believe, but my brother, who teaches in post-secondary education himself, is not sending his college-aged kids to college. I have a PhD and have taught a few college courses on the side. But IтАЩm not opposing his decision.
Despite having gone back to college to finish our own degrees in our 30s (which ended up not actually helping our income much, and saddled us with student loan debt we will never be able to pay off), we ended up discouraging our kids from going to college unless they had a clear career path that required college.
Our oldest son managed to use his experience at a local rubber parts factory to get a high-paying job at a tire factory. Our middle son used dual enrollment in high school to get his Associate's Degree from our local community college. He used his job experience as a First Aid attendant at that same local rubber parts factory to get a high-paying job in human resources. Both sons are married and buying their own homes, despite being only 31 and 28 years old.
Our youngest daughter, an artist, started taking classes at the community college as part of a feeder program for an area animation studio. Despite being fairly "woke," she could not stomach some of the material she was required to consume in her gen ed classes and decided against college. She has managed to support herself away from home by choosing decently-paying full-time jobs.
My two kids followed unusual paths but via the college route: full-ride ROTC scholarship with a successful goal of ranger battalion, but now in business, after bailing out of the tailspin that is the army. And a BFA in interior design, in which every course was designed for that career.
But both have been out for more than a decade now and things are SO much worse.
I already did. Removed them from the US as of this August.
That is the dream. However, I don't see it playing out that way. For a "Wild West of ideas" to exist, there needs to be a significant number of educated/intellectual people willing to have discussions, open forums for those discussions (online or offline), and the ability to have those discussions without the discussions affecting your present and future life.
There are some issues with all of these -- educated people with enough of a perspective on history/philosophy/economics/linguistics/etc are often VERY indoctrinated because the institutions themselves are so captured. Therefore, very few young people (<30 are willing to have these discussions).
For those who *are* willing to think outside the box, the second layer kicks in. The scarcity of spaces in which to discuss those ideas, especially offline. One of the great benefits of the university system was that it provided such a forum for academic discourse and open conversation. It's not the only such space; eg during the enlightenment coffee houses and social clubs often provided such fora. But try going into Starbucks now and discussing the negative effects of DEI-based government contracts on monetary policy and inflation. Yeaaahhh...
As you point out, the internet is a place where such discussions can - and often do - happen. However, the internet is increasingly locked down and censored (see: EU and UK online safety bill, Canada podcast crackdown, etc). It's also a hotbed for misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda campaigns, by government and non-governmental actors. And finally, academia once prided itself on peer review and research, which is something that's easily bypassed online.
The final hurdle is that if you do not self-censor, you may experience harm to your social life or career. A controversial tweet can cost you a job. In our increasingly polarized world, a "Wrong" opinion could lose you friends or family members. In most places outside the US (and likely soon within the US), expressing a bad idea can get you arrested or de-banked. Speech and ideas have consequences. And 30 years ago, if you said something at a bar or among friends, it would stay there. That's not true in our world of digital surveillance.
Instead of increasing diversity of ideas and intellectual discussions, we've seen a very rapid decline in open-mindedness. Yes, there are still spaces where some open discussion happens - this substack is certainly one of them. There are also occasionally some philosophical frameworks being developed and re-evaluated in our new world (Lotus Eaters is a prime example of a few lads who are working to build up a set of discussions and philosophies with a new perspective on classical ideas). But these are few and far between (and so easily either ideologically captured or taken out of existence). Just look at what's happening to Elon Musk by SEC, investors, ADL, and even his own employees, for daring to make Twitter an open forum again.
Careful with the Lotus Eaters. Although Carl seems solid a few of the talking heads stroll a little close to the ethnic nationalism line for my taste.
I believe in the right of nations to defend their history, culture, traditions, and borders -- as much so for Israel as for England. But I understand that's a controversial statement.
That's uncontroversial to me. But several Lotus Eaters hosts go a bit beyond that. They insinuate that certain citizens' views may have more legitimacy than others based on ancestry.
Squishy rightist that I am that is a place I will not, ever, go to.
I) In my review of my life history I credit what I think of as the Starbucks mindset as the beginning of this foolishness. 2) Academic peer review is captured.