More "largely peaceful" Portland protests

[Von Cichlid]

(08-15-2020, 11:22 AM)Dill Wrote: Well it's not new to me that people claim universities "indoctrinate." In the US that began in the 19th century with the emergence of research universities. They became a place where people taught evolution and non-denominational history and that "critical thinking" stuff that Samhain referred to. For a hundred years or so they were a symbol of progress and an aspirational goal for Americans who could afford the education they offered. They produced "experts" who spoke with the authority of science and staffed government and business with their graduates. After 1933, they were poised to take over world leadership in science and engineering.

But also many parents were not happy that their children came back from college with new ideas and often set to question their elders' religious teachings. By 1940, some Evangelical denominations had constructed a network of their own colleges to an education less tainted by Enlightenment ideals. (A lot of them in Texas. My parents met at Howard Payne.)

After the Nixon debacle and Vietnam, though, universities were perceived as a source of the wrong kind of critical thinking--the kind that criticized government policies and capitalism as well as traditional religion. Thereafter was a more concerted effort on the part of Corporate America and politically organized conservatives to undermine their autonomy, in part through defunding the publicly supported ones, and in part by casting them as "leftist" indoctrination machines in need of external (state) control. Anyway, that seems to me the background of current claims of indoctrination. The complaint is not not so much about "indoctrination" per se as about the wrong (progressive) kind.

As far as riots go, I guess Portland is 77% white, so I expect we'll see lots of white folks among the protestors. No need to post video links. What interests me is the background of those specifically arrested for rioting. Are they from Portland? Are they college students? Unemployed? Identified with organizations like Anti-fa? Opportunists? I continue to see the rioters as mostly separate from the peaceful protestors, and I'd like to hear from them why they are doing what they are doing.

Lubbock--I have driven through there a number of times--reddish soil and cotton fields. I was born in Texas, though I never really lived there. I still have lots of family there (15 cousins and their families) and return to visit them every few years. All flat where y'all are. lol

 
Probably the best reason for the phenomena is the fact that over 90% of college professors lean left.  I would wager that most of that 90% are extreme far left depending on the geographic location.  Especially the ones in the liberal arts and the humanities.  

Those subjects don't have the pure objectivity to them like the math and hard sciences do, so it is inevitable that a given professors bias would show through, even though they might try to hide it.  I'm pretty sure the ones with tenure make no effort at all.  

To illustrate, I just found this yesterday:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-economist-proposes-12-trillion-141352636.html


Stuff like this is being pushed on impressionable students way before they have the life experience to ascertain the ludicrousness of such a plan.  Maybe this was an isolated case, but the idea is spreading and it is being validated by people like this professor.  Much more can be said on the ramifications of such a plan, but I don't want to get into that here.

As far as Portland goes, I would bet the daytime protests are mostly college students and unemployed and at night is when the antifa members take over.


I've lived in Lubbock since I was 10 and my wife and I have too much family here so it would be hard to move, but yeah, the geography leaves a little to be desired in this part of Texas.  Best thing I can say is the humidity is low and you always get amazing sunsets.  The people and the economy are good though.  It is like a really big small town.