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| Embedded and Elitist Left |
| 2004-08-01 |
| If you want a good example of the "long march through the institutions" undertaken by sixties leftists after they left school, look no further than the career of Orville Schell, dean of Berkeley's School of Journalism. Since the political program of the left was unlikely to prevail through democratic means-- given the innate good sense of most Americans, who can smell a totalitarian rat a mile away-- those like Schell endorsing various socialist nostrums could realize their utopian schemes only "by insinuation and infiltration rather than confrontation," as Roger Kimball has put it. Thus they settled in the universities and the media, "working against the established institutions while working in them," in the words of sixties leftist guru Herbert Marcuse. But there is another dimension of the institutionalization of the left, one also illustrated by Schell--what Tom Wolfe famously called "radical chic," the use of leftist ideology as a fashion marker to signify one's elitist superiority to the bovine middle class befuddled by a false consciousness that keeps them from seeing the horrible oppression and injustice of America. This combination of elitist privilege and ideology has been a pretty good deal for lucky leftists like Schell, for their insidious undermining of democracy's institutions works just slowly enough to allow them to continue to enjoy the prestigious and profitable benefits of those same institutions that their "progressive" ideas are corrupting. The circumstances of Schell's hiring at Berkeley illustrate just how entrenched the left has become in American universities. Before going to Berkeley as dean, Schell had written for various publications, produced some television documentaries, run an organic farm, and published several well-received books on China, having given up on finishing his PhD. In other words, a pretty good career, but not one that would usually qualify you for being dean of one of the country's most prestigious journalism schools. But if Schell lacked one of the requirements for the position, a completed PhD, he did have impeccable leftist credentials. That was qualification enough for Berkeley profs like Troy Duster, another ex-sixties-radical who was instrumental in Schell's hiring. More at the link... |
| Posted by:ed |
| #2 1. its not brainless leftism; its demented leftism 2. the success of leftists in infiltrating, then dominating universities is due to their strong sense of ideological incestuousness --- whereas conservatives are more impressed by scholarship, and thus were willing to hire leftists who were scholars, the leftists ignore conservative scholars |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-08-01 4:14:09 PM |
| #1 Brainless leftism at Berkeley? This is news? |
| Posted by: someone 2004-08-01 2:54:03 PM |