‘Progressive’ academics all aquiver before Siouxsie Wiles decision. Graham Adams writes – Last week, the NZ Herald published a very curious article about an “unsafe workplace”. You might have expected it to be about volunteer firefighters, or police dog handlers, or perhaps even nurses at the front line of hospital emergency departments, where unruly patients […]
GRAHAM ADAMS: Fear stalks Auckland University campus!
GRAHAM ADAMS: Fear stalks Auckland University campus!
20 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Mission creep at the FFRF
19 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, sports economics Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
One of my favorite secular organizations is the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), of which I’m a member of the “honorary board”. But even honorary boards should play an advisory role, and so I’m doing that here by calling attention to the organization’s mission creep. In previous posts, I noted that the organization, which is […]
Mission creep at the FFRF
Conor Friedersdorf (and Alexander Barvinok) on ideological coercion in American colleges
18 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The Atlantic‘s Conor Fridersdorf is a breath of fresh air among liberal woke media. He is in fact a liberal, but not a “progressive”, and in the new article below he reports one mathematician’s observations of how DEI has insinuated itself into academics, creating not only viewpoint homogeneity, but authoritarianism. Like my colleague Anna Krylov, […]
Conor Friedersdorf (and Alexander Barvinok) on ideological coercion in American colleges
Chicago mayor preparing to eliminate magnet schools. Is that a good thing to do?
18 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: political correctness, regressive left
We have a new “progressive” mayor, Brandon Johnson, and although one of his election promises was to keep our “magnet school” system in place, he’s preparing a resolution to end it. “Magnet schools” are a form of student secondary-school tracking in which students can apply to go to any school, but the best schools, often…
Chicago mayor preparing to eliminate magnet schools. Is that a good thing to do?
The strategy that saved the NY Times
17 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, industrial organisation, survivor principle Tags: political correctness, regressive left
Economist: The new New York Times was the product of two shocks – sudden collapse, and then sudden success. The paper almost went bankrupt during the financial crisis, and the ensuing panic provoked a crisis of confidence among its leaders. Digital competitors like the HuffPost were gaining readers and winning plaudits within the media industry as innovative. They were the…
The strategy that saved the NY Times
Bill Maher on changing boundaries and the tenacity of Israel
17 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, television, TV shows, war and peace Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
In Bill Maher’s monologue this week, he gets serious about the war, going back in history and showing how the ethnic constitution of countries change drastically over time, how colonization is pervasive, and how ethnic cleansing has affected the Jews more than any other people (see his enlightening chart at 2:25). Those who are pro-Palestinian […]
Bill Maher on changing boundaries and the tenacity of Israel
Casey Costello’s maiden speech
15 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Casey Costello provided a welcome change of perspective in her maiden speech. . . . I talk of my tūpuna, and of my whānau not to qualify for some credentials to be recognised as Māori. I know who I am and my strength comes from who has gone before and who are with me now. […]
Casey Costello’s maiden speech
Canadian Medical Schools Asked to Shift From “Medical Expertise” to Anti-Racism and Social Justice Training
14 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of education, health economics Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
There is a major controversy brewing in Canada over a proposal in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons that schools shift from emphasizing “medical expertise” in favor of teaching “anti-racism” and social justice values.
Canadian Medical Schools Asked to Shift From “Medical Expertise” to Anti-Racism and Social Justice Training
Steve Pinker’s Fivefold Way: How Harvard can save itself
13 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Steve Pinker has published his remedy for Harvard’s woes in today’s Boston Globe; he outlined these to me last week over a beer, but I didn’t feel at liberty to divulge what he said he was writing about. Now I can. But the fricking Globe is completely paywalled, so I had to go to our…
Steve Pinker’s Fivefold Way: How Harvard can save itself
CHRIS TROTTER: Contested ground
12 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economic history, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
LAST WEEK The Waitangi Tribunal released Tino Rangatiratanga me te Kāwanatanga: The Report on Stage 2 of the Te Paparahi o Te Raki Inquiry (Wai 1040). For the sake of brevity, I shall refer to this spawling document as the Northland Report. Sadly, the Report seems destined to make the already fraught relationship between Māori…
CHRIS TROTTER: Contested ground
Shit or go blind? You did neither.
12 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, television, TV shows Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The Woke are increasingly reminding me of this classic Far Side cartoon, in that their “solutions” are exactly the same for every problem, including also being a single word,. The Veternarian pictured below also obviously doesn’t believe in fixing disabilities – although she’s at least not prepared to leave them to suffer in order to […]
Shit or go blind? You did neither.
JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigenous spirituality
09 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation philosophy of science, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Jerry Coyne writes – This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland, the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other word, she’s a scientist. One key to […]
JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigenous spirituality
Douglas Murray on the West
07 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
“Today the West faces challenges without and threats within. But no greater threat exists than that which comes from people inside the West intent on pulling apart the fabric of our societies, piece by piece. By assaulting the majority populations in these countries. By saying that our histories are entirely reprehensible and have nothing good […]
Douglas Murray on the West
MICHAEL BASSETT: MODERN MAORI MYTHS
06 Dec 2023 1 Comment
in discrimination, economic history, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is really happening is that ministers are stopping the crusade waged by the Ardern/Hipkins…
MICHAEL BASSETT: MODERN MAORI MYTHS
Chuck Schumer delivers Senate speech on antisemitism
04 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, The Holocaust
You can read Chuck Schumer’s recent op-ed in the NYT, “What American Jews fear most,“, or you can watch his 40-minute speech on the topic given in the Senate (video below). I recommend listening to the speech, of which the op-ed is a short distillation. Alternatively, read the transcript, which you can find here. Schumer […]
Chuck Schumer delivers Senate speech on antisemitism
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