Genesis of SJW

[dcarrigg]

Re: Genesis of SJW

I don't think many of these are ridiculous. Maybe that's where we differ. I'm just going to quote a few off YAF's list that I think are probably interesting and valuable from the descriptions. I only read the first couple of pages:

AAS 347—Urban Inequality in America
Why are American cities and suburbs so racially and economically segregated? What are the
consequences of living apart? This class delves into these questions by focusing on how
space and place have come to play an integral role in shaping poverty and inequality in the
U.S. In the first half of class we critically examine how housing policy and economic dislocation
contributed to spaces of concentrated poverty in U.S. cities. We will learn how neighborhoods
work as mechanisms that shape the quality of life and life chances of individuals. We will
explore how these processes have changed and/or stayed the same in an era of suburbanizing
poverty and urban gentrification and question whether integration is the answer. In the second
half of the course we will turn to an examination of the consequences of segregation, focusing
on people and places in poverty. Specifically we will investigate how inequality across space
shapes and is shaped by education and schooling, transportation, crime, policing and
surveillance, networks, and meaning making. How does all this matter for our children? We
answer this question by examining how the advantages and disadvantages of where we live
get passed down through generations. Finally, we end the course probing the possibilities for
change. Should we move people out of poor neighborhoods or invest in poor neighborhoods?
How do and can communities make change from within via organizations, governance, politics,
and collective action? Though our focus will largely be on African American communities in
poverty, when possible, we will draw comparisons with other racial, ethnic, and economic
groups.

This seems like a good class asking good questions, and there's a ton of data and land use experiments to pour through. Millions of Americans are working everywhere from HUD to developers to city councils where these sorts of questions are worth pondering and good background in this stuff is valuable.

PLS 372—Modern Political Philosophy
Major themes of modern political philosophy as represented by such thinkers as Machiavelli,
Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx, and Nietzsche

This is bread and butter great books stuff from the 1500s to the 1900s. Any educated person should read these, at least The Prince, The Leviathan, The Social Contract, The Manifesto, and Zarathustra. I'll stand by that until the day I die.

PHIL 2013—The Rights and Wrongs of Killing People
Virtually everyone thinks it’s permissible to kill people only in special circumstances. But why is
killing usually wrong? Is it ever acceptable to kill an innocent human being intentionally? This
course raises these and related questions and examines cases such as terrorism, suicide,
abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, war. Except for a brief discussion of animals, all the
controversies considered deal with killing and causing death to human beings.

This seems like an objectively valuable philosophical question. Is there a time to kill? And if so, when? Seems like a quality course for lots of folks from doctors to military officers to politicians to philosophers, etc. Most people have thought about the trolley problem. But this shit even comes up in every discussion about self-driving cars etc. Actually delving into any sort of philosophy, analytics, or moral psychology on the matter could be useful to lots of folks.

I mean, I get that YAF has a political axe to grind. But I simply don't get how they find some of these classes so offensive. At least conservatives like Strauss promoted great books in the western cannon. It's crazy to me that they published a list like this that claims reading Hobbes and Machiavelli and Nietzsche and Marx in college is some sort of indoctrination. These are some of the most influential books on earth during the last millennium, short of the Bible and the Quran.

[dcarrigg]

Re: Genesis of SJW

I think the term has both meanings. There's the one you refer to, then there's the temporary physical spaces that are occasionally set up, which I think are pretty rare, but which even the 'liberal press' can't stop pearl clutching and freaking out about.

[DSpencer]

Re: Genesis of SJW

I think the term has both meanings. There's the one you refer to, then there's the temporary physical spaces that are occasionally set up, which I think are pretty rare, but which even the 'liberal press' can't stop pearl clutching and freaking out about.

From your link:

"The safe space, Ms. Byron explained, was intended to give people who might find comments “troubling” or “triggering,” a place to recuperate. The room was equipped with cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a video of frolicking puppies, as well as students and staff members trained to deal with trauma."

Is it any wonder that people are interested and baffled by what is going on there? The safe space itself is like an extreme form of pearl-clutching. It's as if hearing a word or idea is so triggering that clutching your pearls and gasping isn't enough. You have to literally leave the area and play like you're a 3 year old to recuperate.

I assume that spaces like that are exceptionally rare. But the fact that even a few exist suggests that there is a culture that supports their existence that is completely foreign and incomprehensible to many people.

[dcarrigg]

Re: Genesis of SJW

From your link:

"The safe space, Ms. Byron explained, was intended to give people who might find comments “troubling” or “triggering,” a place to recuperate. The room was equipped with cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a video of frolicking puppies, as well as students and staff members trained to deal with trauma."

Is it any wonder that people are interested and baffled by what is going on there? The safe space itself is like an extreme form of pearl-clutching. It's as if hearing a word or idea is so triggering that clutching your pearls and gasping isn't enough. You have to literally leave the area and play like you're a 3 year old to recuperate.

I assume that spaces like that are exceptionally rare. But the fact that even a few exist suggests that there is a culture that supports their existence that is completely foreign and incomprehensible to many people.

Sure. All I'm saying is it's a whole lot of ink spilled for a one-off goofy temporary college room with play-doh and puppies. I'm sure for every one of these there's a thousand frathouse rooms filled with kegs and strippers. College kids.

[GRG55]

Re: Genesis of SJW

Sure. All I'm saying is it's a whole lot of ink spilled for a one-off goofy temporary college room with play-doh and puppies. I'm sure for every one of these there's a thousand frathouse rooms filled with kegs and strippers. College kids.

No doubt. But it may also be saying something about the (abnormal?) emotional fragility of many of these kids now.

[dcarrigg]

Re: Genesis of SJW

Maybe so. But I imagine we're talking about a handful. Maybe 4. Almost certainly not more than 40. Out of probably 4,000 in their class. Pre-internet, they'd just be weirdos. And if some school shrink set up play-doh for them one time, nobody would have ever heard about it. The internet has a weird habit of amplifying irrelevant annoyances and underplaying big shit. I mean, for fuck's sake, there have been more asylum seekers at the souther border of the US in 2018 than total people interned in Japanese camps from 1942 to 1946. Yet play-doh in Providence one time back in 2015 is still drawing attention. I get that it's silly. I'm not oblivious. I just don't get the panic. I mean, I live not a far drive away. The place is lefty. And weird. It has been since 1630. Nothing seems like it's spinning off its axis though.