the salt makers

Ladies and gentleman, the last bastion of the radical American Left, the great ivory towers of academia, are beginning to crumble at their very foundation. The old saying "you always become what you hate" couldn't be more true.

From The Marquette Tribune, the student-run newspaper at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI:

1960s Leftism Threatens Campus Discussion

By John McAdams

Academia has long leaned to the left politically, but until the last generation or so, it was dominated by traditional liberals. These liberals prided themselves on "tolerance."

Of course, liberals can be as intolerant as anybody else, but traditional liberals claimed to be tolerant, tried to be tolerant, and when cornered often would be tolerant.

But this has changed. Increasingly, during the last generation, academia has seen the rise of '60s leftism as the dominant ideology.

'60s leftists, remember, read Herbert Marcuse explaining how tolerance was "repressive," were willing to shout down speakers they disagreed with, disrupt classes of professors whose views they objected to, and in extreme cases bomb and burn campus buildings. (Most didn't resort to violence, but quite a large number condoned violence used by the anti-war movement.)

Marquette has been, happily, "behind the times" on this, but unfortunately, we are catching up.

The problem is not so much the children of the '60s (few in number at Marquette and well into their 50s) as the grandchildren of the '60s — trained by children of the '60s in Ph.D. programs and coming to constitute a critical mass in several Marquette departments.

Case in point: Philosophy graduate student Stuart Ditsler posted on his office door the following quote from columnist Dave Barry:

"As Americans we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful, and relentless. I refer, of course, to the federal government."

This is provocative, to be sure, but isn't free speech supposed to be? Philosophy Department Chair James South didn't think so, and he tore the post down.

In an e-mail to Ditsler, he said that: "I had several complaints today about a quotation that was on the door of CH 132F. I've taken the quotation down. While I am a strong supporter of academic freedom, I'm afraid that hallways and office doors are not 'free-speech zones.' If material is patently offensive and has no obvious academic import or university sanction, I have little choice but to take note."

What kind of ninny becomes "offended" at seeing a libertarian quote on an office door at Marquette? And how is the quote "patently offensive?" South has refused to say.

In fact, philosophy faculty have been quite free to post cartoons on their doors attacking President Bush and the "values voters" who supposedly elected Bush in 2004. But the Dave Barry quote was verboten.

Thus '60s leftists and their spiritual children (and grandchildren) think themselves free to ban any sort of speech they think "offensive" or "hate speech" or "against human rights."

And of course, they think they are the ones who get to define what is "offensive" or "hate speech" or "against human rights."

Traditional liberals are people you can talk to and disagree with. '60s leftists are people convinced that no discussion is needed, indeed that discussion is dangerous, and that if you disagree with them you should be shut up.

McAdams is an associate professor of political science.