The Irony of Middlebury

Don
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 29, 2017 20:24:22 GMT -5

Post by Don on Mar 29, 2017 20:24:22 GMT -5

ETA: Link to original story is here. My bad.

[O]ne overlooked irony of the events at Middlebury is how they perfectly proved some of the points that Murray made in his book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010, which he had been invited to discuss. The book documents the separation of a “new upper class”, raised in rich neighborhoods, immersed in liberal, cosmopolitan values, and educated at expensive, liberal universities. In other words, it profiles the students of Middlebury College.

The author goes on to back up the point with some interesting data, and a graph.

Middlebury’s students are among the richest and most privileged in America. The average enrollee comes from a household making a quarter of a million dollars a year, according to recent research on universities and social mobility. As many students at Middlebury come from the top 1% of households (23%) as come from the bottom four quintiles (24%). The annual cost of attending is almost $64,000 a year.
...
We have crunched some numbers using data gathered by the non-partisan Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and found that the schools where students have attempted disinvite speakers are substantially wealthier and more expensive than average. Since 2014, there have been attempts at some 90 colleges to disinvite speakers, mostly conservatives. The average enrollee at a college where students have attempted to restrict free speech comes from a family with an annual income $32,000 higher than that of the average student in America.

And here's the nifty graph. Colleges that have issued disinvitations are indicated in red.

And in summation:

The upper middle class is separating dangerously from the rest of society. This is driven in part by unfair “opportunity hoarding” mechanisms, including regressive tax expenditures, corrupt internships, and unfair zoning laws. But perhaps the greatest symbol of upper middle class separation is the elite university itself. Colleges like Middlebury—buoyed by such practices as legacy preferences in admissions—not only reflect but reinforce the continued growth of inequality.

It makes we wonder if some of the protest was driven by people who were more familiar with Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 than his earlier work, but found his earlier work a convenient way to discredit his current heresy.

What's your take?

Last Edit: Mar 30, 2017 9:23:03 GMT -5 by Don

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
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michaelw
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 29, 2017 20:47:47 GMT -5

Post by michaelw on Mar 29, 2017 20:47:47 GMT -5

Mar 29, 2017 20:24:22 GMT -5 Don said:

It makes we wonder if some of the protest was driven by people who were more familiar with Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 than his earlier work, but found his earlier work a convenient way to discredit his current heresy.

That seems possible, but I'm not sure how likely that would really be. The fact is: Murray is much more known for The Bell Curve than any other of his books, including Coming Apart. I'd guess more people have read the former than the latter, by far.

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Don
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 29, 2017 21:03:10 GMT -5

Post by Don on Mar 29, 2017 21:03:10 GMT -5

Mar 29, 2017 20:47:47 GMT -5 michaelw said:

Mar 29, 2017 20:24:22 GMT -5 Don said:

It makes we wonder if some of the protest was driven by people who were more familiar with Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 than his earlier work, but found his earlier work a convenient way to discredit his current heresy.

That seems possible, but I'm not sure how likely that would really be. The fact is: Murray is much more known for The Bell Curve than any other of his books, including Coming Apart. I'd guess more people have read the former than the latter, by far.

Your probably right. Occam's razor would argue for cluelessness over Machiavellian cunning.

I do find the irony delicious, however, and would have loved to hear the premise of Coming Apart debated in one of the specific arenas it apparently addresses.

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
____________________________________________________

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Optimus
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 30, 2017 0:24:50 GMT -5 Angie likes this

Post by Optimus on Mar 30, 2017 0:24:50 GMT -5

Part of it likely also has to do with the poisonous influence of that one-respected, now-total-fucking-joke of an organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the nutjobs running it: www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/03/19/the_hate_group_that_incited_the_middlebury_melee_133377.html

This episode prompted the FBI to drop the SPLC as a resource for hate crime cases. It prompted no such soul searching in academia. Before Charles Murray’s abortive visit to Vermont, several hundred Middlebury alums signed a letter opposing his visit. They and the numerous professors and students who protested all cited the SPLC as their sole source for various slanders against Murray: He’s a racist; he favors eugenics; he’s a “white supremacist.”

Murry’s original sin is “The Bell Curve,” a book Murray co-authored more than two decades ago postulating a correlation between poverty and IQ. But it never advocated “eugenics.” Nor is he anti-gay: He’s argued in favor of gay marriage to Republican groups.

The “white supremacist” stuff is especially offensive: Murray, whose first wife was Asian, has mixed-race children.

No matter. The professors who admitted to Professor Stanger that they’d never read a word Murray had written led their students in the chants that drowned out whatever he planned to say at Middlebury.

While the anti-intellectual nature of this juvenile stunt is appalling, what’s worse is that college professors and students at an elite, expensive American college would outsource their thinking to an outfit like the SPLC. One of the professors’ talking points was that his “Bell Curve” research hadn’t been “peer reviewed.” That’s comical when one considers the shoddy nature of the SPLC’s dossiers. As liberal writer Ken Silverstein has noted, “the Law Center is essentially a fraud.”

They only get any attention these days by releasing their infamous lists that label people as "hate groups" or whatever and using extremist propaganda to work up their supporters (i.e., donors) into a mouth-frothing frenzy, like they did at Middlebury. They are, essentially, the PETA of civil rights groups.

They lost any inkling of credibility they might have undeservedly had in my eyes when they labeled well-respected Muslim reformer Maajid Naawaz as an "anti-Muslim extremist." Not only was it the most ludicrously stupid, uninformed, flat-out false crock of bullshit, it literally put his life in danger.

SPLC has quickly become a garbage organization that needs to be ignored until it no longer exists.

Last Edit: Mar 30, 2017 0:29:45 GMT -5 by Optimus

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michaelw
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 30, 2017 0:48:45 GMT -5 celawson likes this

Post by michaelw on Mar 30, 2017 0:48:45 GMT -5

Mar 30, 2017 0:24:50 GMT -5 Optimus said:

They lost any inkling of credibility they might have undeservedly had in my eyes when they labeled well-respected Muslim reformer Maajid Naawaz as an "anti-Muslim extremist." Not only was it the most ludicrously stupid, uninformed, flat-out false crock of bullshit, it literally put his life in danger.

Wow, that's pretty incredible. If butting heads w/ Islamic theocrats is what gets one labeled an anti-Muslim extremist, they could put Sadiq Khan on their list as well.

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Angie
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 30, 2017 3:07:55 GMT -5

Post by Angie on Mar 30, 2017 3:07:55 GMT -5

Mar 30, 2017 0:24:50 GMT -5 Optimus said:

They lost any inkling of credibility they might have undeservedly had in my eyes when they labeled well-respected Muslim reformer Maajid Naawaz as an "anti-Muslim extremist." Not only was it the most ludicrously stupid, uninformed, flat-out false crock of bullshit, it literally put his life in danger.

SPLC has quickly become a garbage organization that needs to be ignored until it no longer exists.

Mar 30, 2017 0:48:45 GMT -5 michaelw said:

Wow, that's pretty incredible. If butting heads w/ Islamic theocrats is what gets one labeled an anti-Muslim extremist, they could put Sadiq Khan on their list as well.

Don't forget Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who was also put on the SPLC's anti-Muslim extremist list for calling bullshit on her own former religion for what it put her through (and continues to put other girls and women through).

I cringe every time I see SPLC mentioned anymore.

<< This is, like, my draw-ring and stuff.

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robeiae
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 30, 2017 8:19:28 GMT -5 Don likes this

Post by robeiae on Mar 30, 2017 8:19:28 GMT -5

Mar 30, 2017 0:24:50 GMT -5 Optimus said:

Part of it likely also has to do with the poisonous influence of that one-respected, now-total-fucking-joke of an organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the nutjobs running it: www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/03/19/the_hate_group_that_incited_the_middlebury_melee_133377.html

This episode prompted the FBI to drop the SPLC as a resource for hate crime cases. It prompted no such soul searching in academia. Before Charles Murray’s abortive visit to Vermont, several hundred Middlebury alums signed a letter opposing his visit. They and the numerous professors and students who protested all cited the SPLC as their sole source for various slanders against Murray: He’s a racist; he favors eugenics; he’s a “white supremacist.”

Murry’s original sin is “The Bell Curve,” a book Murray co-authored more than two decades ago postulating a correlation between poverty and IQ. But it never advocated “eugenics.” Nor is he anti-gay: He’s argued in favor of gay marriage to Republican groups.

The “white supremacist” stuff is especially offensive: Murray, whose first wife was Asian, has mixed-race children.

No matter. The professors who admitted to Professor Stanger that they’d never read a word Murray had written led their students in the chants that drowned out whatever he planned to say at Middlebury.

While the anti-intellectual nature of this juvenile stunt is appalling, what’s worse is that college professors and students at an elite, expensive American college would outsource their thinking to an outfit like the SPLC. One of the professors’ talking points was that his “Bell Curve” research hadn’t been “peer reviewed.” That’s comical when one considers the shoddy nature of the SPLC’s dossiers. As liberal writer Ken Silverstein has noted, “the Law Center is essentially a fraud.”

They only get any attention these days by releasing their infamous lists that label people as "hate groups" or whatever and using extremist propaganda to work up their supporters (i.e., donors) into a mouth-frothing frenzy, like they did at Middlebury. They are, essentially, the PETA of civil rights groups.

They lost any inkling of credibility they might have undeservedly had in my eyes when they labeled well-respected Muslim reformer Maajid Naawaz as an "anti-Muslim extremist." Not only was it the most ludicrously stupid, uninformed, flat-out false crock of bullshit, it literally put his life in danger.

SPLC has quickly become a garbage organization that needs to be ignored until it no longer exists.

Okay, so here's Naawaz's profile on the SPLC: www.splcenter.org/20161025/journalists-manual-field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists#nawaz

Here's what's in the intro to this list of "anti-Muslim extremists":

These spokespeople were selected on the basis of their presence in national and local media and for the pernicious brand of extremism and hate they espouse against Muslim communities and the Islamic faith.

One would expect some examples of this espoused hate and extremism in the descriptions, no?

The entry for Ann Corcoran provides such quotes, like this one:

“Frankly, we have made a grievous error in taking the Muslim refugees, Somalis in particular, who have no intention of becoming Americans,” she wrote in that piece. “They are here to change America. Unfortunately, political correctness and a worshipful attitude toward multiculturalism have blinded us.”

I'm looking for something comparable in the entry Naawaz and I'm not seeing, well, much of anything.

That really is pretty bad. And note that this list is not just coming from the SPLC. Other orgs who signed off on it: Media Matters for America, the Center for New Community, and ReThink Media. I've never heard of the last two, all three deserve just as much criticism here as the SPLC.

And honestly, I think this is really a shame. I have always seen the SPLC as a reliable source, by and large, even with the Murray nonsense (as wrong as the SPLC is for labeling Murray a "white nationalist," there is at least an extensive history of serious thinkers opining that The Bell Curve is racist in orientation).

All that said, I do think that Naawaz is an egotist, from what I've read from him and about him. But that hardly makes him an "anti-Muslim extremist."

As to the FBI breaking ties with the SPLC, that appears to be just a bit of PR and not actually true: hotair.com/archives/2014/03/31/the-fbis-break-up-with-the-splc-may-be-more-public-relations-than-anything-else/

As to Don's initial prompt, well first let's have a link (you forgot one, Don): www.brookings.edu/opinions/illiberal-arts-colleges-pay-more-get-less-free-speech/

There's probably something there, imo. But there's also this simply reality: wealthy students at expensive schools have a lot more free time than do most other students. After all, they're not working their way through college, for the most part. Ad they're not dependent on scholarships, athletic or academic, which thay could potentially lose if they get arrested for any reason.

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Amadan
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 30, 2017 8:43:30 GMT -5 Don and Optimus like this

Post by Amadan on Mar 30, 2017 8:43:30 GMT -5

Mar 29, 2017 20:24:22 GMT -5 Don said:

It makes we wonder if some of the protest was driven by people who were more familiar with Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 than his earlier work, but found his earlier work a convenient way to discredit his current heresy.

What's your take?

I think it's unlikely the majority of the protesters knew more about Murray than sound bites repeated to them by their friends.

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Don
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The Irony of Middlebury Mar 30, 2017 9:24:40 GMT -5

Post by Don on Mar 30, 2017 9:24:40 GMT -5

Link added to the OP. Thanks for the heads-up, rob.

I will never be perturbed if someone points out that I've failed to include pertinent links.

If you see something, say something.

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
____________________________________________________

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Optimus
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The Irony of Middlebury Apr 16, 2017 15:02:08 GMT -5

Post by Optimus on Apr 16, 2017 15:02:08 GMT -5

Mar 29, 2017 20:24:22 GMT -5 Don said:

ETA: Link to original story is here. My bad.

....

What's your take?

I saw this article (linked below) just today, but what it reports was humorously unsurprising to me.

Two profs from Cornell decided to see if the hate against Murray has more to do with the somewhat arguably false mythos built up around him and The Bell Curve or if it has more to do with what he's actually said or is saying. So, they transcribed the talk he gave (via livestream) for Middlebury and sent it out to several academics (with his name removed and also with his name on it) to see how they would rate it on a scale representing a spectrum from very conservative to very liberal.

Surprise, surprise. When his name was removed, his talk scored middle-of-the-road.

It's a link to a NY Times story and they have some stupid protocol which prevents copying/pasting, so if you're interested in reading it, here's the link:

www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/opinion/sunday/charles-murrays-provocative-talk.html

Last Edit: Apr 16, 2017 15:03:38 GMT -5 by Optimus

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robeiae Thaumaturge On a down bound train Posts: 6,692	The Irony of Middlebury Apr 16, 2017 17:31:29 GMT -5 Post by robeiae on Apr 16, 2017 17:31:29 GMT -5 Lol. It's too bad they couldn't have used the same group of professors for each version, though (obviously they couldn't, because the professors would immediately recognize the second version as what they just read). The results are still hardly surprising, I think.
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Optimus Illuminati Posts: 2,508	The Irony of Middlebury Apr 24, 2017 2:52:36 GMT -5 Post by Optimus on Apr 24, 2017 2:52:36 GMT -5 I occasionally listen to Sam Harris's "Waking Up" podcast and he had Murray on there a day or two ago. Interesting, if not controversial, conversation. www.samharris.org/podcast/item/forbidden-knowledge
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robeiae
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The Irony of Middlebury Aug 25, 2017 8:59:59 GMT -5 Angie, Optimus, and 1 more like this

Post by robeiae on Aug 25, 2017 8:59:59 GMT -5

Mar 30, 2017 3:07:55 GMT -5 Angie said:

Don't forget Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who was also put on the SPLC's anti-Muslim extremist list for calling bullshit on her own former religion for what it put her through (and continues to put other girls and women through).

I cringe every time I see SPLC mentioned anymore.

Ali has on op-ed out at the NYT, following Charlottesville and what events there are doing for the SPLC coffers:

Since the violence in Charlottesville 10 days ago, when white supremacists left one young woman dead and 19 others injured, the Southern Poverty Law Center has hit the jackpot. The Alabama-based nonprofit is set to receive millions of dollars in donations from some of the nation’s deepest of pockets. Apple pledged $1 million. JP Morgan Chase & Co.: half a million. George and Amal Clooney even got in on the action, promising to donate another $1 million...

I am a black woman, a feminist and a former Muslim who has consistently opposed political violence. The price for expressing my beliefs has been high: I must travel with armed security at all times. My friend and collaborator Theo van Gogh was murdered in broad daylight.

Yet the S.P.L.C. has the audacity to label me an “extremist,” including my name in a “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists” that it published on its website last October...

The terrible consequences of Islamic extremism are on display on a weekly basis around the world. In the days after Charlottesville, five men in Barcelona used a van and knives to kill 14 and injure scores of innocent people. Another Islamic extremist went on a stabbing rampage in Finland. In wealthy societies like the United States, most plots to kill in the name of Islamist supremacy are foiled. But poorer societies in the developing world lack the means to do that, which is why the majority of victims of the extremists are in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria.

It is not surprising that, when I point out such facts, I am viciously attacked and threatened by those who are dedicated to Islamic extremism. But it has always struck me as odd that so many supposed liberals in the West take their side rather than mine, as happened three years ago, when Brandeis University rescinded their offer to me of an honorary degree. I would have expected a civil-rights organization supposedly committed to justice to speak out against those who would oppress women, gays and people of other faiths. But the S.P.L.C. has nothing to say about Islamic extremists; only about their opponents.

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Don
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The Irony of Middlebury Aug 26, 2017 8:12:51 GMT -5

Post by Don on Aug 26, 2017 8:12:51 GMT -5

Some people recognized the SPLC for what they are years ago, but far too many people were willing to ignore their transgressions because they were on the "right side."

Those enablers should learn something from this. Perhaps this will remind them of Martin Niemoller.

They most likely won't.

Last Edit: Aug 26, 2017 8:15:10 GMT -5 by Don

____________________________________________________
Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias. ~Peter Boettke
"It's the voter's fault" is victim-blaming in its purest sense. ~Don
The 'social contract' is to the politician what 'original sin' is to the priest. ~Don
The vision of the helpful and protective state is the most pervasive and counter-productive ideology in the world today. ~Don
____________________________________________________

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celawson
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The Irony of Middlebury Aug 26, 2017 11:05:55 GMT -5

Post by celawson on Aug 26, 2017 11:05:55 GMT -5

I think it's pretty ironic also that Amal Clooney, who has spent time in her career as a human rights lawyer speaking against ISIS and its crimes against women, would give money to S.P.L.C.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/amal-clooney-isis-genocide-yazidis-iraq-united-nations-security-council-passive-response-nadia-murad-a7621871.html

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Post by Don on Mar 29, 2017 20:24:22 GMT -5

Post by michaelw on Mar 29, 2017 20:47:47 GMT -5

Post by Don on Mar 29, 2017 21:03:10 GMT -5

Post by Optimus on Mar 30, 2017 0:24:50 GMT -5

Post by michaelw on Mar 30, 2017 0:48:45 GMT -5

Post by Angie on Mar 30, 2017 3:07:55 GMT -5

Post by robeiae on Mar 30, 2017 8:19:28 GMT -5

Post by Amadan on Mar 30, 2017 8:43:30 GMT -5

Post by Don on Mar 30, 2017 9:24:40 GMT -5

Post by Optimus on Apr 16, 2017 15:02:08 GMT -5

Post by robeiae on Apr 16, 2017 17:31:29 GMT -5

Post by Optimus on Apr 24, 2017 2:52:36 GMT -5

Post by robeiae on Aug 25, 2017 8:59:59 GMT -5

Post by Don on Aug 26, 2017 8:12:51 GMT -5

Post by celawson on Aug 26, 2017 11:05:55 GMT -5