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Vasko Kohlmayer of Notes from the Twilight Zone writes about a laudable pushback against woke insanity at one of America’s premier institutions of higher learning. He continues (abridged):
A truly heartening piece of news comes out of Stanford: The Stanford Review, the school’s independent newspaper, is taking a bold stand against the unhinged progressivism that has taken over so many American universities.
This Monday they started a series called “Woke Watch.”
This is a laudable pushback against woke insanity at one of America’s premier institutions of higher learning.
This is what the Review staff wrote in the editorial in which they announced the launch of their admirable initiative:
“No idea should be off-limits at a university. But when an ideology becomes so prevalent that it is nearly impossible to challenge, it becomes a serious problem—and a threat to academic freedom. Over the last few years, Stanford has been taken over by a collection of theories that view society as consisting only of the oppressors and the oppressed, see words as violent and disagreement as danger, and deny the existence of objective truth. Whether these theories are called anti-racism; social justice; Critical Theory; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; or simply being “on the right side of history;” their effect is the same. They chill free speech, encourage conformity, and demonize disagreement. We at the Review are deeply concerned about the stranglehold these ideas place on rational discourse. In this spirit, we are launching “Woke Watch,” a new series that gives readers an inside look into how wokeness is rotting the intellectual foundations of one of America’s leading universities.”
It is worth reading this excellent short editorial in full which you can do here.
God’s speed to the very brave writers and editors at The Stanford Review. They are taking their good fight straight to the lions’ den.
There is every indication that they have their work cut out for them, since Stanford – like most American universities – has its share of noxious progressive educators. Earlier this month, the Review ran a story on a Stanford mathematics professor by the name of Jo Boaler. Boaler uses her prestigious position to influence public education policy in California as well as in the United States. Boaler happens to be one of the co-authors of the California Math Framework (CMF), which sets out guidelines for math education for millions of California’s pupils. The document asserts – among other things – that the notion of gifted children is a “myth.” The project is largely an attack on high standards in learning and teaching, which is something that a number of sane professors and educators have objected to.
One of those who has criticized Boaler is a Berkeley professor Jelani Nelson, who is black. Nelson argued that the guidelines co-authored by Boaler will harm minorities in particular, because they promote low quality of work. When Nelson also pointed out that Boaler was charging the government $5,000 per hour for her “consulting” work, Boaler did what most good, white progressive leftists do in such situations: she called the police and lawyers to silence her opponent.
This shows that the staff of The Stanford Review will have no shortage of good material for their “Woke Watch.”
May their work shed light of truth on the progressives’ hypocrisy, greed, immorality, lies and totalitarian mindset.
The woke progressive left represents a great threat to civilization as it aims to subsume and destroy everything that is good, beautiful, holy, decent, and wholesome.
May sanity, openness, tolerance and decency prevail at Stanford and all throughout our world.
Vasko Kohlmayer born and grew up in former communist Czechoslovakia. You can follow his writings by subscribing to his Substack newsletter ’Notes from the Twilight Zone’. He is the author of The West in Crisis: Civilizations and Their Death Drives.
