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2024-05-25 Fifth Column

[CityJournal] The images of the recent protests at Columbia University have grabbed the attention of the American public: students chanting for a Palestinian state, "from the river to the sea"; activists setting up a mass tent encampment on the campus lawn; masked occupiers seizing control of Hamilton Hall. For some, it was a sign that ancient anti-Semitism had established itself in the heart of the Ivy League. For others, it was déjà vu of 1968, when mass demonstrations last roiled campus.

After weeks of rising tensions, Columbia president Minouche Shafik resolved the immediate conflict by summoning the New York City Police Department, which swiftly disbanded anti-Israel student encampments, removed the occupiers of Hamilton Hall, and arrested more than 100 students, who were subsequently suspended.

President Shafik feigned surprise. In a statement to students, she expressed "deep sadness" about the campus chaos. But to anyone who has observed Columbia in recent decades, the upheaval should not come as a surprise. Behind the images of campus protests lies a deeper, more troubling story: the ideological capture of the university, which inexorably drove Columbia toward this moment. Columbia for decades has cultivated the precise conditions that allowed the pro-Hamas protests to flourish. The university built massive departments to advance "postcolonialism," spent hundreds of millions of dollars on "diversity, equity, and inclusion," and glorified New Left—style student activism as the telos of university life.
These are not anti-Israeli protests. Not even anti-American protests. IMO, what we've been seeing in the last few years is Nihilism pure and simple. They will run wild at any excuse - because they want to run wild. And they want to run wild because, deep down inside, they know they're second rate.

Posted by Grom the Reflective 2024-05-25 05:07|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 They used to be called anarchists.

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2024-05-25 07:30|| 2024-05-25 07:30|| Front Page Top

#2 These are "look at meeeeee!" protests.

Posted by M. Murcek 2024-05-25 07:37|| 2024-05-25 07:37|| Front Page Top

#3 #1 From wiki
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is against all forms of authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies and voluntary free associations. As a historically left-wing movement, this reading of anarchism is placed on the farthest left of the political spectrum, usually described as the libertarian wing of the socialist movement (libertarian socialism).

Nihilism (/ˈnaɪ(h)ɪlɪzəm, ˈniː-/; from Latin nihil 'nothing') is a family of views within philosophy that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence,[1][2] such as knowledge, morality, or meaning.

Although, I might be giving them too much credit - and they're simply savages looting.

Posted by Grom the Reflective 2024-05-25 07:43|| 2024-05-25 07:43|| Front Page Top

#4 As I recall, about 40% of them are outsiders, come to help the students do it right. Not only that, but many of the outsiders and quite a few of the students are being paid for the work, with supplies and funds for supplies provided as a package deal. A big funder of the protests is IT billionaire Neville Roy Singham, the notorious Maoist who lives in Shanghai. The People’s Forum is one of his projects, as Code Pink is his wife’s.

The cause is never the cause, as someone said. The cause is always revolution.

Posted by trailing wife 2024-05-25 09:44|| 2024-05-25 09:44|| Front Page Top

#5 Walter Sobchak:
Nihilists! F*** me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

Posted by Frank G 2024-05-25 09:59|| 2024-05-25 09:59|| Front Page Top

#6 BDS is a dirty word. It's literally illegal in the USA to do that to Israel.

Posted by Cromonter Spawn of the Faeries8107 2024-05-25 14:43|| 2024-05-25 14:43|| Front Page Top

#7 It’s literally illegal at the state level for state or local government entities in certain states — I think about 27 of the 50 — to engage in BDS against Israel, or to do business with those who are engaged in BDS. Private businesses, individuals, and groups can do anything they want, even in those states, and anyone can do so at the federal level.

We have had this discussion several times before, Cromonter Spawn of the Faeries8107. But you refuse to accept reality counter to your fevered imaginings.

Posted by trailing wife 2024-05-25 15:07|| 2024-05-25 15:07|| Front Page Top

#8 ^ Herb

Posted by Frank G 2024-05-25 16:48|| 2024-05-25 16:48|| Front Page Top

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