University Indoctrination

For John, BLUF:  We have thought of higher eductioin as being about expanding one's knowledge, but now it appears to be about indoctrination.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Samizdata quote of the day – The American University Madrassa System

From Samizdata, by Samizdata Illuminatus (Arkham, Massachusetts), 21 July 2024.

Here is the lede plus two:

You might be wondering, where does all this come from, can we blame those French thinkers?  Is Foucault to blame?  No, not really.

It’s the American University that has whipped up this dish, and it all really started to take shape and form in the early nineties, so about 40 years ago.  The second generation “thinkers” then were building on Neo-Marxist and Post-Modern ideas sourced from the 60s and 70s, but those ideas would not have had the influence they have today without a second and third generation of thinkers and professors in American Universities that have ended up influencing a generation that has then gone out into the world and redesigned that world along those ideas.  We are all paying the price today.

The right way to think about the American University as a generator and propagator of these ideas is the way that you already think about The Madras as a potentially indoctrinating breeding ground for Islamic Extremism.

And there is more ar the link.

I do think this theory explains univerity student response to the Hamas attack on Israel, back on 7 October.  Not every university student, but quite a few amongst the Ivy league.

One wonders about the future of our democratic experiment, given the ignorance of those being groomed to join our elites.  On thw other hand, Senator J D Vance, and his Wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, are both graduates of Yale Law School and seem to have turned out OK.

Regards  —  Cliff