It’s History… but It May Offend Your Children

One of the cornerstones of Woke/Intersectionality Thinking is that students have a right to be protected from discussions and/or presentations on history or social issues that make them feel uncomfortable. This, of course, is anti-intellectual as well as anti-educational – but never mind, we must protect the next generation’s feelings.

Accordingly, the largest school district in Virginia just sent out a notice to parents of seventh graders, saying that their children can, if they want, skip a presentation about the Holocaust from a Holocaust survivor. They noted that their “diverse district includes students with ‘different experiences.’” And they claimed that the opt-out was intended primarily to protect Jewish students. Yeah. Right.

Click here.

The Dangerous Hypocrisy of Woke Linguistics

I’ve been reading Freddie deBoer for only about a year now, and yet I haven’t been able to guess in which field of study to locate him. He writes regularly about culture and the arts, and particularly contemporary music. Which had me thinking for a while that he was a PhD in musicology at some university, with a curiosity about other topics when they crossed into contemporary culture.

Since then, I’ve read essays by him on economic and political theory, economic and political news, social philosophy and social activism, the state of the union, the state of the world, and the state of contemporary thinking. And he always has something interesting to say.

I don’t know how he does it.

I do have one small criticism that I hope he will pay attention to. He is frequently willing to lead his good essays with titles/headlines that sound academic and dry, if not downright boring.

Take this essay, published on March 20, which is titled “Descriptivism Self-Negates on Multiple Levels.”

Who would want to read an essay with a title like that? I read it because I’m probably the one reader in a hundred that understands what descriptivism and prescriptivism means. And probably one in a thousand that has a keen interest in the longstanding debate between them.

So, don’t be turned off by his headline. This essay is smart and insightful. It will teach you what the debate is about, which is interesting on its own. But it will also prompt ideas about long-standing debates in other areas, including philosophy, literature, and the arts.

Speaking of Woke Linguistics…

From TS: “A funny take on woke pronouns.” Click here.

Health Watch 

McDonald’s French Fries? Don’t Tell Me!

JS sends us another heads-up about healthy eating. In this case, it’s about the toxicity of a large order of McDonald’s fries. It’s a very short video, but it makes its argument strongly. If you are a big fan of McD’s fries (as I am), you might want to skip it. If you think you can handle it, click here.