Your word for the day is ochlocracy. As Aristotle reckoned things, ochlocracy is democracy, spoiled by the triumph of the passions over reason as oligarchy is aristocracy spoiled by corruption or tyranny is monarchy spoiled by lack of virtue. It is sometimes translated as “mob rule”.
Ochlocracy is not the friend of minorities. Rather the rule of law is.
Our media really pushed us towards this. As I was talking with the wife last night, I realized that when you come down to it, all of the fuss in Missouri is over a few skinny white girls bumping a tall Asian guy, and a few university administrators and profs got fired or resigned, mostly for incompetence. Just isn’t that big of a deal, but it has really been blown up as both sides use it stir up their own team. We need a politician to get caught in a sex scandal or a blonde, white girl to get kidnapped so that the media can have something else to focus on.
Steve
“Our media really pushed us towards this.”
Is this really the media who is pushing these demonstrations? They certainly have joined the student bandwagon, as they always so when something becomes sensationally controversial. But, the actual kindling igniting the firestorm has been political correct speech pushed into overdrive, innuendos of infractions (some of which are unproven), and administrations/profs caught in the cross fire, with no spines to stand up and support rational rather than rioting behavior.
Basically, this seems more the work of left-sided community organizers — something seen frequently in the Black Lives Matter uprisings that roamed from city to city, and now is busy disrupting political rallies, as much as possible, getting liberal funding as they go along.
jan- Go back to what i first said. No one has been physically harmed, yet this is getting the same level of coverage as if someone was actually shot. We are not talking riots and property damage either. The President ignored what was going on. You can claim he was not PC or whatever you want, the fact remains that no leader who ignores problems in their organization will remain in power for long. Regardless, we have a few university profs/admin types losing their jobs. Why does all of this merit lots of coverage? Because it can be spun to play into larger narratives both sides want to push.
..and, Steve go back to what I said. The media didn’t start the coverage. But, through their vast moment-by-moment coverage, they are insuring a longer than normal life span. The agitators on the extreme fringes know this, and they capitalize on and then exploit the vacuous enthusiasm of the MSM’s need to have delicious photo opts — cropped if need be to inflate the size of a crowd, which then visually distorts images of attendance numbers.
What’s being injured here is not physical lives (yet). However, the ability to state a contrary opinion is being shut down, sweepingly labeled with incendiary intonations of racism directed at those who dissent from the rabid mentality of the demonstrators. That’s troublesome in my mind, when it occurs from the actions and vile rhetoric of extremists on either side of the political spectrum. In the case of recent events — Black Lives Matter police force accusations, demanding school “safe spaces” from loosely defined hate speech or vague sexual abuses , and now this — it reminds me of repeating societal cycles when the ‘inmates are running the institutions.”
Also, Steve, when it comes to the taking of lives, especially during inept screw-ups by the state department under a democrat administration, “what difference does it make?” Isn’t that the bottom line to the shallowness of HRC’s so-called accountability, with regards to that event?
“.. the fact remains that no leader who ignores problems in their organization will remain in power for long. “
..except President Obama.
@steve, I agree w/ you to an extent. The young people in these events are not really representative of much besides themselves. I also think its quite possible that some of the main actors have mental issues, mainly because I think college students are at high risk because it is an age-range when many mental health issues emerge, first time away from home and/or increased drug and alcohol usage. These have long been true, but there are numerous factors contributing to their increase. That said, I don’t believe it is the role of the teacher to modify their teaching lessons for psychiatric reasons, that is asking them to do something beyond their core competency.
I do differ in that I think institutional responses should be assessed. And I find the college framework exposed by these events to be bizarre. I don’t know why college professors are discussing costumes, or running public relations for student protesters. In my day, they were teaching or conducting research, and sometimes not teaching. I don’t know why the Mizzou President was fired, other than its cheaper to fire the manager than the players. The Yale Professor seems like a saint. The Mizzou professor that resigned for not taking made-up threats seriously looks like a rat abandoning ship.
A friend’s daughter has Mizzou J-school in her top three choices for college next year; I’ll see if anything changed next week.
Something that’s being lost in the discussion is the “reasonable person standard”. Have you heard the recording of the female student shrieking at the Yale master at the top of her lungs? I don’t see how any reasonable person could claim that she was acting properly.
I also fail to see how physically surrounding a faculty member and screaming epithets within six inches of his or her nose doesn’t imply a threat of violence. I think the only thing that’s savings these kids’ lives is the forebearance of the people they’re haranguing.
“Also, Steve, when it comes to the taking of lives, especially during inept screw-ups by the state department under a democrat administration,”
I guess I can counter that with the THOUSANDS of lives lost by the inept Bush admin in Iraq. Heck, what about 9/11 under Bush? Anyway, nice attempt at changing the subject, but you lose badly if you do.
“However, the ability to state a contrary opinion is being shut down, sweepingly labeled with incendiary intonations of racism directed at those who dissent from the rabid mentality of the demonstrators. ”
Odd, I have read many pages recently expressing dissent. Here you are doing the same. I am actually a bit tired of all the dissent which isn’t happening, as well as the focus on a few people complaining about life at their campus.
” I don’t know why the Mizzou President was fired”
He ignored the whole situation as it was building. He may have felt it was beneath him to meet with students on these kinds of issues. Maybe he didn’t think it was important. I don’t know, but when you have a bunch of people paying tuition and they get ignored when they think they have a big problem, you will be in trouble. If, as a university president you aren’t interested in raising money and meeting with the campus brats when they are having a hissy fit, then you shouldn’t hold the job. That, plus you are right about the manager thing.
“I don’t see how any reasonable person could claim that she was acting properly.”
Who said she was? Look, this is the product of omnipresent smartphones and the ability to record everything. Do you really believe this is the first time a college student had a meltdown? 10 years ago this does not get recorded. No one knows. It is resolved privately. Now, the media catches it and pushes it.
Steve
I’ve heard numerous people defending her in interviews. The contours of their argument usually are in the “you don’t know how she perceives things” direction. Here’s an example. After mentioning the point you did (about media) Roxane Gay says:
That’s what motivated my remark about the reasonable person standard. I don’t think we should dismiss the young woman’s reaction. I think we should reject it. It is not how civilized people behave.
You have grown assed men and women being told they are children until they are 26, and surprise surprise, they act like children until they are 26.
Let me help everybody out. Somehow throughout history including today, males and females as young as 16 have ruled countries and have successfully lead men into battle.
If the brain’s of today’s youths seem to be developing too slowly, a good ass whooping is sure to speed them up – get their mind right.