Absolutely fascinating! I think this should be mandatory listening for every American. I know that you touched on cancel culture when it comes to social media and this is what I'm curious about: when I am on Substack or Facebook but especially on Facebook, the amount of people who tell me to get in an oven is staggering and yet it continues unchecked. I'm also 100% certain that if I were African American and someone told me to go lynch myself, that there would be zero tolerance. My question is, from a 1st Amendment perspective, do us Jews just have to suck it up or can we have expectations, as part of a civilized society, that there are guardrails on revolting behavior? And mazel tov to Chaya Leah on her son becoming a rabbi!!!!!!
One of the things mentioned in Canceling of the American Mind is that the median household income of Harvard students' families is over $500,000/yr. Part of the "why" for much of the deranged campus activism is that rich kids (many of them white) get indoctrinated by professors who absorbed the New Leftism of Herbert Marcuse -- and the guilt and hypocrisy they feel is diverted into projection: They compete to outbid each other in condemning the evils of whiteness, "settler-colonialism," etc.
But here's the kicker. The striving professional-managerial class takes its cues from these children of the elite. Which leads to more and more people who are so ashamed of their good life that they play the same Mean Girl(TM) games at the PTA, the HR department, the local schools, and so on. Those who may not entirely buy it usually fall into the standard liberal failure more of agreeableness, and don't stand up to the bullies. So here we are.
Lukianoff can cope as much as he likes, but if the College Republicans at any college in the country wanted to have a party celebrating the murder of George Floyd or the massacre of LGBTQ people at the Pulse Nightclub, NOBODY would be whining about their free speech and I bet we would be talking expulsions from the college in question. This is transparently obvious.
Absolutely ChayaLeah, growing up in a large family and sitting together for dinner each night was my introduction to sharing ideas and discussing our different views about the world. Many times there were disagreements, but that’s how you learn and become curious. Great interview! You two make me laugh so much!
Great episode! I’ve been waiting for someone to focus on the campus protests with him. I really feel Chayaleah’s comment about free speech being a Jewish value. I don’t see how you have Judaism or Jewish culture without argument and debate. Over the past year I’ve been disappointed by a few Jewish public figures who have advocated for shutting down anti-Israel speech that wasn’t a physical threat (I.e. from the river to the sea, etc). It feels like our moment to show the best of our religion.
Mazel Tov to Chaya Leah, Mendy, and the whole Sufrin family. I’m kvelling. 🥲
and mazel tov Sufrin family on another rabbi!
Absolutely fascinating! I think this should be mandatory listening for every American. I know that you touched on cancel culture when it comes to social media and this is what I'm curious about: when I am on Substack or Facebook but especially on Facebook, the amount of people who tell me to get in an oven is staggering and yet it continues unchecked. I'm also 100% certain that if I were African American and someone told me to go lynch myself, that there would be zero tolerance. My question is, from a 1st Amendment perspective, do us Jews just have to suck it up or can we have expectations, as part of a civilized society, that there are guardrails on revolting behavior? And mazel tov to Chaya Leah on her son becoming a rabbi!!!!!!
Great questions
One of the things mentioned in Canceling of the American Mind is that the median household income of Harvard students' families is over $500,000/yr. Part of the "why" for much of the deranged campus activism is that rich kids (many of them white) get indoctrinated by professors who absorbed the New Leftism of Herbert Marcuse -- and the guilt and hypocrisy they feel is diverted into projection: They compete to outbid each other in condemning the evils of whiteness, "settler-colonialism," etc.
But here's the kicker. The striving professional-managerial class takes its cues from these children of the elite. Which leads to more and more people who are so ashamed of their good life that they play the same Mean Girl(TM) games at the PTA, the HR department, the local schools, and so on. Those who may not entirely buy it usually fall into the standard liberal failure more of agreeableness, and don't stand up to the bullies. So here we are.
Lukianoff can cope as much as he likes, but if the College Republicans at any college in the country wanted to have a party celebrating the murder of George Floyd or the massacre of LGBTQ people at the Pulse Nightclub, NOBODY would be whining about their free speech and I bet we would be talking expulsions from the college in question. This is transparently obvious.
Absolutely ChayaLeah, growing up in a large family and sitting together for dinner each night was my introduction to sharing ideas and discussing our different views about the world. Many times there were disagreements, but that’s how you learn and become curious. Great interview! You two make me laugh so much!
Great conversation!
Great episode! I’ve been waiting for someone to focus on the campus protests with him. I really feel Chayaleah’s comment about free speech being a Jewish value. I don’t see how you have Judaism or Jewish culture without argument and debate. Over the past year I’ve been disappointed by a few Jewish public figures who have advocated for shutting down anti-Israel speech that wasn’t a physical threat (I.e. from the river to the sea, etc). It feels like our moment to show the best of our religion.
What a great interview! You are knocking it out of the park lately.
I not only checked out The Canceling of the American Mind from the library, I liked it so much I bought my own copy. :)