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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 4, 2023

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I think it succeeded for institutional reasons as well. The biggest strongholds are places where market forces don’t work, and it’s extremely difficult to remove people. University is a huge win because tenure makes it nearly impossible to remove ideological capture. You do not simply fire a woke professor. Likewise you do not simply fire a woke deep-state actor, or Hollywood writing team. Worse, since those in that kind of position are choosing their successors, they can select only other woke people for those roles.

I think for entertainment and education, the best option might well be parallel institutions. If those universities suddenly have to compete with schools that offer an excellent education and serious scholarship, they either adapt or die. If there are a thousand indie movies and tv shows and books that are well made, entertaining and not pandering to the woke crowd, then, again, it’s adapt or die.

Worse, since those in that kind of position are choosing their successors, they can select only other woke people for those roles.

They've actually gotten into teaching of the law as well, and they also like implementing codes of conduct and professional standards which make right wing political opinions grounds for termination or loss of credentials, as things like "voting for Trump" start qualifying as racism/homophobia/sexism. They're making sure that conservatives are completely cut out from prestigious roles/elite circles.

I think for entertainment and education, the best option might well be parallel institutions. If those universities suddenly have to compete with schools that offer an excellent education and serious scholarship, they either adapt or die. If there are a thousand indie movies and tv shows and books that are well made, entertaining and not pandering to the woke crowd, then, again, it’s adapt or die.

Absolutely agreed here. When organisations start becoming left wing political bodies they usually stop performing their original function in a satisfactory way, so there's a lot of room for competition as long as you can avoid getting crushed by the Cathedral.

I think on the second part of this, the internet provides an excellent work around. I can write a book, and print it as a PDF file and publish it on my website. I can make a video and host it myself. I can create an online university and offer courses in anything I find useful and important taught from a dispassionate intellectually rigorous perspective. Advertising and marketing might be an issue, but making content available isn’t.