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Just James, Peter and Rob this week to wade through the disaster that has become of American higher education. Naturally, the essential question arises: what do we do about these once-prestigious institutions? The Ricochet trio think it through.
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Harsh, but fair…
It seems like some of these colleges are finding that the protesters are not actually their students.
These schools are way too big and impersonal. In the next few years, the effects of the events of this past week will show up in parents’ looking at smaller local colleges for their kids. Parents work too hard to get their kids to college to worry about their safety. At least for American parents. Of course, these schools don’t worry about money. They are marketing to young people in foreign countries.
Excellent discussion.
I wish the bottom 50% of colleges would just wipe out the relationship to the accreditation system. Let people take courses À la la cart. Charge one price for things that sell in the job market and another where it’s questionable. nobody’s going to care if you went to one of those. One of the problems with this country is you can’t develop your human at a fair price. Government schools are worthless. Cut a check to the parents for K-12.
Israel is going to have to go full medieval on Hezbollah at some point.
From everything I can tell, Palestinians are run by Hamas and they like it.
The average Iranian citizen does not like the government there unlike Palestinians.
This is exactly right. Your typical liberal loves this, and totally defends it. They pay full boat. Anything to make leftism “prosper”.
Ther is a corollary to Rob’s point regarding the instructors who misinterpret the success of the 1960s protests. That is the desire to relive the Civil Rights Movement. Many of those who participated or heard their elders talk about the struggle and victory want to relive it. So a new oppressed group must continually be found. We’ve seen it happen with gay rights and now the transgender discrimination. These radicals are jus “trying to get the feeling again.”
The Civil Rights Movement was a crowning achievement in their lives. Hamas is just the next oppressed group.
Thanks to all of you—each one of you—for being, along with the 3 Whisky Gang and Bill Bennett, an important part of my weekend.
I’ve been friends with Jim Zogby of the Arab American Institute for over 60 years and it has become ever more difficult to continue to disagree with him WITHOUT becoming disagreeable. His recent AAI missive went on to praise “the principled and brave student demonstrators” on the campuses….Jim was active in the 60’s—and when it was said on today’s podcast that these twits were expressing ‘profound ignorance of the past… AND profound hatred …of the past’ the gong sounded. (In fairness, he has publicly denounced the HAMAS attacks of 10/7).That gong summed up the execrable longing by faculty and administrators who are joining in with these sons and daughters and grandchildren of the 60s to restore those (NOT SO) glorious days of marches and sit-ins and draft card burning, begging to restore them and attributing breathtaking wisdom and benevolence to these chanters of ‘from the river to the sea’ with those days of protest.
I have been in contact with Zogby…but I forgot to mention to him—to suggest!— that the 60s are OVER…gone…and those days were never as ‘golden’ as those who were not there ‘remember’ them.
Thanks again!
So Jim Zogby of the Arab American Institute praised the “principled and brave” student demonstrations on the campuses, demonstrations that condone and even praise the HAMAS attacks of 10/7.
In fairness, by your recitation of the facts, Jim Zogby of the Arab American Institute is a hypocrite of breathtaking magnitude.
I find that profoundly disagreeable.
Not worth saving because they don’t want to be saved. The future is Hillsdale.
I wasn’t criticizing you, Doctor.
I was criticizing Jim Zogby. I find his hypocrisy to be profoundly disagreeable – as I said.
I honestly don’t understand your reaction.
The most positive and constructive moment is Peter at 41:01 on about the University of Austin, a startup competing with the atrophied Ivies.
I hope that U.A. will —
(1) set very high, i.e. traditional SAT type (no essay BS) admissions standards, because the real value of the Ivies is who you meet there, the future leaders of our great institutions and animated comedies. And then:
(2) develop a forward looking curriculum with advanced tech studies for all those HS STEM grads, a media production major with a journalism element, and practical, politically neutral pre-law, pre-med, and business management departments. Don’t get bogged down in arguments over which philosophy, religion, or “Great Books” track belongs in a core curriculum. Fly or pipe in lots of outside speakers to interact with the students.
No guest and no sponsors. Concerning.
Some of our best shows are sans guests.
As for sponsors I’m afraid that sometimes that’s an early indication of which way the economy is heading as ad budgets have a tendency to be one of the first things to get hit.
The idea (I think Rob expressed it) that today’s younger people may have been conditioned through the “education” system to assume that any “winning” or “success” is inherently illegitimate or “stolen” is an intriguing idea. What are we reaping by constantly denigrating success?
It’s more insidious than denigrating success, we have redefined it. Society is elevating the absolute worst of our traits. We see it in our culture, in our politics, and even in our daily lives. Life is a lot more transactional and not in a good way.
If we genuinely ran with zero or minimal constant deflation, everyone would be rewarded on the merits of their direct labor. What is affordable, now? The list of anything that is important is very low. Then everyone whines about the socialists and nobody procreating w-2 slaves.
Furthermore they lie about inflation. 1.5% = 5%. 3% = 9%. Plus every individual experiences an individual inflation.
It’s insanity.
Why do they lie about inflation? Because the system is dependent on indiscriminate debt growth.
But doesn’t the left want to win? And won’t that make them evil, by their own standards?
Of course, it never applies to themselves.
The income tax bracket creep, where inflation drives incomes into higher marginal tax brackets, is a bonus for the system.
Is it? What’s the difference between revenue generation by tax bracket creep vs government payment on COLAs?
@LibertyDefender
Not a problem. I was, it seems, simply not clear about your initial reply. No harm…no foul.
Best Wishes
Inflation doesn’t do anybody any good except for the top 10% or the top 4% and the people that are on government salaries. The time to overhaul it has long passed.
I don’t know that it helps everyone that is on a government salary. Only the politicians probably, who give themselves raises far higher than they give other government workers.
That’s an interesting question. My knee-jerk suspicion is that income tax revenue increases from marginal tax bracket creep would exceed government COLA outlays.
It is depressing (suicidally so) to imagine it’s the other way around.
They get great benefits and salary, increases that cover inflation, and they don’t go out of business. they don’t have a profit motive. Inflation is good for government workers.
That is indeed generous of you not to call a foul on yourself.
The discussion seems to imply that Reagan’s indexing of Federal tax rates to inflation was repealed. I’m sure the Democrats would like to, but as far as I know they’ve only chipped away at it.
Except, are the rates indexed to actual inflation, or only to official inflation?
This was the best Ricohet episode of all time. Rob Long please write a piece that simply transcribes your rant about the protestors! It was just perfect!