I am writing this column in the hope that you will pass it around.
To be honest, I write every column in the hope that it will be passed around, times being what they are. I’m arrogant enough to think what I have to say is at least somewhat needed. More humbly, G-d gave me a modicum of writing skill, I have concluded, for a reason, and more than ever in my life, I, at the age of 80, seem constrained to use it. I rarely stop, and when I do, all I seem to think about is what I’m going to write next, except when I’m playing tennis ... and even then ...
It begins: “Cowboys ain’t easy to love / And they’re harder to hold.” If you replace “Cowboys” with “Activists,” it still makes sense, maybe more so. Trust me—I’ve been there myself, years and years ago. We were wrong then. They’re worse now.
This is all a long way around to what my theme is: the cause of the civilization-threatening unholy mess we are in, with so many of our supposedly premier institutions of higher learning—indeed the world’s supposedly premier institutions of higher learning—Ivy League on down, turned into satanic campgrounds celebrating a group of bloodthirsty maniacs that make the Nazi Party seem like ... well, let’s just leave it there.
Except that 1939 has come back. From Wikipedia:
“On February 20, 1939, a Nazi rally took place at Madison Square Garden, organized by the German American Bund. More than 20,000 people attended, and Fritz Julius Kuhn was a featured speaker. The Bund billed the event, which took place two days before George Washington’s Birthday, as a pro-‘Americanism’ rally; the stage at the event featured a huge Washington portrait with swastikas on each side.”
Déjà vu all over again? The proverbial canary in the coal mine come back for yet another bow?
Yes, but now it’s arguably worse. No more wrapping themselves in the flag. George Washington, no longer revered, is just another statue to be toppled. It’s “Death to America” all the way down at our leading universities, and it’s spreading.
Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to be activists—see what I mean?
I’m not talking about the loyal readers of this newspaper. I’d be astonished if they were the kind of parents or grandparents who would countenance that kind of thing. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they (you) know plenty who are.
Also, I know many fine people who have done their best with their progeny, only to find that years of critical race theory (flagrant or masked) and other assorted “woke” excrescences in the schools, not to mention the inability to concentrate brought on via the supposed gifts of Silicon Valley, have made it impossible anyway.
When looking for blame for what happened to this generation of college students, half or near of whom seem to prefer Hamas to Israel, most point at the educational system itself, so neo-Marxist “woke” from kindergarten up it’s hard to imagine how it could be more so, and to the media who cheer it along, amplify it, and excuse its excesses.
It’s not been just an abdication of responsibility. In more cases than we would like to know, the parents may also have cheered them on, seeing in their rebellious children the vindication of their own, much more tepid, rebellions years ago.
In yet other cases, it’s more direct, and worse.
It’s impossible to know how many of these protesters come from single-parent homes, but it’s almost certain to be a high percentage. This is a national disaster in itself.
It’s hard to know in general how many of them there are or even who they are, because they wear masks or keffiyehs covering their faces (for fear of COVID-19 or, more likely, identification by future employers).
What we are seeing on our campuses is the product of a family environment imploding, or sadly, already imploded. Much of this is and has been intentional.
So let’s end with some good news. It was long overdue, but the Ivy League and similar institutions are finally losing their luster. It is being widely reported that many students and their families—not just Jewish ones—are deciding to go elsewhere, to the Midwest and South, for studies that might be more even-handed.
Others are deciding that college isn’t such a great thing after all and are going to trade schools. Good on them. (I wonder how many of those trade schools are having pro-Hamas demonstrations. Not many, I’d wager.)
Finally, a word about a word—“activists.” It is used as well to characterize adherents of what we often think of as good causes. I say—bag it. Let’s leave that term to the Left. That way, you don’t have to let your babies grow up to be “activists,” because, chances are, they’re not going to be the kind you want.
