If you are only marginally aware of what conservative and libertarian students go through in colleges around the US, here's a few links to bring you up to speed. It ain't your grandparent's college anymore.
Silence U Part 1 Brown University VIDEO
Looks pretty discouraging doesn't it? How can we, the hopelessly outnumbered, possibly achieve even a toe-hold on getting our voices and opinions heard on college campuses?
Don't worry, there is hope. Thanks to the long history of individual mentors like Tom Palmer and organizations like The Institute for Humane Studies, we are pumping out some fabulous libertarian educators for the future. However, that doesn't help current students at Portland State University where courses like "Revolutionary Marxism" and "Bollywood: Communicating Contemporary South Asia through Cinema" are the norm.
This campus is quite happy to shut down any political activity if it's "triggering". So how can we possibly support these student without becoming embroiled in the college's political agenda?
We call for reinforcements. And just who on earth would that be?
We give a shout out to the libertarians and conservatives who graduated from college 'way back when...'. That's right folks, we call in the old people, our "honored citizens" who don't give a damn about what kind of credit or grade they get in a college course because they've already been there, done that and moved on to successful lives and careers. We send out an SOS to our army of aging, true grit libertarians spoiling for a fight, not overly concerned what anyone thinks of their opinion and steeled enough to take a few body blows to their intellect and ego.
Think that's a silly idea? Well, imagine you are a fresh-faced, wide-eyed 17 year old young man from a conservative Alabama home and it's your first week at Portland State. How shell-shocked would you be by the extreme progressive political agenda dominating courses like Calculus and Advanced Grammatical Structure? You might start wondering if hell could be any worse than the brow-beating you've received from nearly every one of your professors because your opinions are politically incorrect.
Now imagine week two and how you would feel if that old lady in the corner started asking questions and making points you no longer felt free to because your grade hangs in the balance? Would it give you hope and courage? Would it go a long way toward making you feel you weren't battling Goliath alone?
There's little point in belaboring this concept. I think you get the idea. It's a pretty simple concept.
However, this is not something you can expect to "wing" and achieve success. You'll need some due diligence in studying the highly effective tactics used to silence debate in the classroom and elsewhere. It's called the Delphi Technique for achieving a predetermined "consensus" and you've run up against it in every government meeting you've ever attended. With even a modestly short study of the Delphi Technique, your ability to derail these tactics wherever and whenever you encounter them will increase dramatically.
The other thing you'll need is a team. Two or three purposeful students knowing and countering the Delphi Technique can seed an audience and make a huge difference in the atmosphere of any class. WARNING: You can't do this by yourself! You will end up getting both yourself and your ideas marginalizing and discredited, please trust me.
So, how about it all you boomer libertarians with a desire to increase liberty and encourage free speech? Think you might enjoy a little "slap and tickle" with the enemy? Those young people could sure use your help and bridging the generation gap would have a whole new meaning. GO FOR IT!
BTW did you get the double entendre of the title? Send our seniors BACK, to school...the progressive agenda pushers on their lack of reason and our young people how to fight and win.
Long since abandoned for a much more productive use - to achieve a predetermined consensus.
Don't worry, there is hope. Thanks to the long history of individual mentors like Tom Palmer and organizations like The Institute for Humane Studies, we are pumping out some fabulous libertarian educators for the future. However, that doesn't help current students at Portland State University where courses like "Revolutionary Marxism" and "Bollywood: Communicating Contemporary South Asia through Cinema" are the norm.
This campus is quite happy to shut down any political activity if it's "triggering". So how can we possibly support these student without becoming embroiled in the college's political agenda?
We call for reinforcements. And just who on earth would that be?
We give a shout out to the libertarians and conservatives who graduated from college 'way back when...'. That's right folks, we call in the old people, our "honored citizens" who don't give a damn about what kind of credit or grade they get in a college course because they've already been there, done that and moved on to successful lives and careers. We send out an SOS to our army of aging, true grit libertarians spoiling for a fight, not overly concerned what anyone thinks of their opinion and steeled enough to take a few body blows to their intellect and ego.
Think that's a silly idea? Well, imagine you are a fresh-faced, wide-eyed 17 year old young man from a conservative Alabama home and it's your first week at Portland State. How shell-shocked would you be by the extreme progressive political agenda dominating courses like Calculus and Advanced Grammatical Structure? You might start wondering if hell could be any worse than the brow-beating you've received from nearly every one of your professors because your opinions are politically incorrect.
Now imagine week two and how you would feel if that old lady in the corner started asking questions and making points you no longer felt free to because your grade hangs in the balance? Would it give you hope and courage? Would it go a long way toward making you feel you weren't battling Goliath alone?
There's little point in belaboring this concept. I think you get the idea. It's a pretty simple concept.
However, this is not something you can expect to "wing" and achieve success. You'll need some due diligence in studying the highly effective tactics used to silence debate in the classroom and elsewhere. It's called the Delphi Technique for achieving a predetermined "consensus" and you've run up against it in every government meeting you've ever attended. With even a modestly short study of the Delphi Technique, your ability to derail these tactics wherever and whenever you encounter them will increase dramatically.
The other thing you'll need is a team. Two or three purposeful students knowing and countering the Delphi Technique can seed an audience and make a huge difference in the atmosphere of any class. WARNING: You can't do this by yourself! You will end up getting both yourself and your ideas marginalizing and discredited, please trust me.
So, how about it all you boomer libertarians with a desire to increase liberty and encourage free speech? Think you might enjoy a little "slap and tickle" with the enemy? Those young people could sure use your help and bridging the generation gap would have a whole new meaning. GO FOR IT!
BTW did you get the double entendre of the title? Send our seniors BACK, to school...the progressive agenda pushers on their lack of reason and our young people how to fight and win.
SUGGESTED READING:
The Original Scope and Purpose of the Delphi TechniqueLong since abandoned for a much more productive use - to achieve a predetermined consensus.
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