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The Gift That Keeps on Giving........

3/30/2016

I promised myself I would not post anything more about the sniveling cowardice displayed by Emory University president, James Wagner, and the crybullies that were so tragically offended by the chalking of TRUMP 2016.

And then I saw this: Yes, that is Emory president James Wagner, chalking EMORY STAND FOR FREE SPEECH.

I almost vomited in my mouth.

This is the same guy that validated the asinine demands of the students who claimed TRUMP 2016 was the equivalent of violence.

This is the same guy who charged the police with finding the chalking culprits.

This is the same guy who wants to purge Emory of the chalking culprits by putting them through Emory’s discipline process.

This is the same guy who wants to press criminal charges against the chalking culprits if they are not Emory students.

This is what a sniveling coward looks like trying to save his job.

https://www.thefire.org/emory-president-chalks-pro-speech-message-after-trump-controversy-as-students-alumni-urge-more-action-video/

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Appreciation Decay, Detachment, and Anger

3/30/2016

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Gratitude.

When my family sits down to eat dinner, we go around the table and state for what we are grateful. It is a daily reminder that life is temporary, that our situations are fragile, and that there is good to be found when sought.

I try to instill in my kids a sense of gratitude. I want them to have appreciation--for food to eat and clean water to drink, for their teachers who challenge them, for their own failures and adversities, and for the things they inherited.

“Society” Scruton (2014) tells us, "is a shared inheritance for the sake of which we learn to circumscribe our demands, to see our own place in things as part of a continuous chain of giving and receiving, and to recognize that the good things we inherit are not ours to spoil.”

Let that last part sink in: “....the good things we inherit are not ours to spoil."

He goes on to say "There is a line of obligation that connects us to those who gave us what we have; and our concern for the future is an extension of that line. We take the future of our community into account not by fictitious cost-benefit calculations, but more concretely, by seeing ourselves as inheriting benefits and passing them on."

Scruton, I believe, is capturing important elements of gratitude: recognition, appreciation, reciprocity, respect, obligation, exchange, and accountability.

Do we see any signs of gratitude coming from students? Do they appreciate all the support services now available to them, the quality of life now available on most campuses, including swimming pools, gyms, numerous eateries, Starbucks, counselors, advocates, libraries, and all of the remarkable technology? Do they appreciate professors who challenge them, who are critical of their work, and who cut them a break.....sometimes even when they don’t deserve it? Some do but most do not.

Do we ever hear anything resembling gratitude from faculty, especially faculty who are partisan in their orientation, who work in departments that are unnecessary and unproductive, or faculty who have all but quit working? Do we ever thank taxpayers for their support, thank parents for entrusting their children to us, and thank our schools for providing us with a wonderful place to work? Rarely do I hear such sentiments.

Do we hear gratitude coming from the mouths of Emory students psychologically traumatized by seeing TRUMP 2016 written in chalk on sidewalks? No.

Do college presidents, diversity officers, and other administrators ever ask themselves “am I making what I’ve inherited worse?” Never.

Victim culture requires the elimination of gratitude. You cannot, obviously, claim victim status and then be grateful to the institution that victimized you.

This is not without consequence. A lack of gratitude looks and sounds eerily like a sense of entitlement or more simply, as ignoble selfishness.

A lack of gratitude severs the connection between unearned inheritance and the obligation to improve that which you didn’t build. It excludes reciprocity and makes absent personal accountability. With no connection to the past, no obligations to those who built our great institutions, no respect for traditions or hierarchy or standards, the ungrateful demand that which should never be given: a status equal to those who came before.

A lack of gratitude alienates individuals, robs them of charity, and elevates their ego. They are caught in web of self-deception spurred on by anger, resentment, and frustration. They search for the causes of their anger and loneliness in the outside world, only rarely giving credence to the possibility that they have chosen a path towards spiritual self-destruction.

The absence of gratitude is not simply crass selfishness but soul crushing misery.

Let me tell you a story:

My grandfather was born in 1914 and came to age during the Great Depression. His father sold items from a cart pulled by a donkey. His grandfather migrated from Ireland with nothing but the shirt on his back. My grandfather was intelligent and had the option to attend a well-known engineering school. Life, as they say, got in the way. His father died so he instead went to work as a truck driver to support his mother, brother, and sisters. After years of backbreaking work, he landed a job at a paper mill where he tied corrugated boxes by hand. It was there, at the factory, where he met my grandmother.

They married and had a son. At the age of 28 my grandfather was drafted into the Army to serve in WWII. He also found out that his wife was pregnant with twins. He left his job at the factory, his pregnant wife and son, and entered the Army. He attended basic training and then went to infantry school where he was told that he would soon deploy to fight the Japanese. His brother, Jack, went into the Navy, and became one of the first “frogmen.” He was supposed to be sent to Europe.

Neither went where they were told they were going. Jack went to the Pacific theater, and my grandfather took a Liberty ship north to England. There he trained for the eventual invasion and it was there where he witnessed his first wartime loss. A “buzz” bomb landed between two chow-hall tents and immediately killed over 1,500 people. My grandfather avoided death simply by luck.

He landed at Normandy, fought through France, and found himself later in the Battle of the Bulge. There, he told me, men froze to death in their foxholes, they lost limbs to the cold, they were shredded by artillery, shot, grievously wounded, or executed by German soldiers. My grandfather avoided death, surviving sniper fire, artillery barrages, sickness, machine-guns, and hand-to-hand combat. His unit liberated a concentration camp where they summarily shot the remaining guards and later, after a trial, executed the leadership. He fought all the way up to the Rhine river....and then the war ended.

His brother was not so fortunate. While clearing mines in the middle the night for an invasion taking place on the beach the next day, Japanese soldiers found Jack and shot him. They left his body on the beach as a warning.

My grandfather returned home and for the next 30 years he worked at that same factory bundling boxes by hand. There was no air conditioning, no such thing as PTSD, no outreach. My grandparents raised three kids, two of which would go on to serve in Vietnam, and remained married for 50 years.

My grandfather never complained, never took offense at the ramblings of others, and never wore a coat in the winter. He said that “The Bulge” was colder than hell and that he didn’t think he would survive. Everything else, he told me, was easy.

Having experienced the brutality that defined WWII, the loss of close friends, and having killed other men my grandfather never thought himself a victim. The idea angered him. He answered a great call and did his duty. In the end, he was grateful for not only surviving the war but for having a hot and laborious factory job, for having a small but welcoming home, and for the cold beer he would drink at his favorite tavern when he left work.

My grandparents didn’t enjoy any “white privilege” or other such nonsense. They instead fed the “bums” that walked off the railroad tracks near their home--white and black. They never thought their lives were burdensome, pitiful, or depressing. They were not political, particularly expressive, or even emotionally warm. Yet they valued what they had earned, looked humbly at their sacrifices, and gave thanks to God for their family, friends, and country. They modeled gratitude because they understood hardship.

Today we are far removed from the kinds of burdens encountered just a few short generations ago. We have more food than we need, we live in homes larger than those lived in by the Kings of a bygone era, and few, very few of us have had to kill to survive. Yet somehow we constantly discover new and increasingly banal affronts to our dignity.



Scruton, Roger (2014-09-11). How to be a conservative (Kindle Locations 420-425). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

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Diversianity

3/25/2016

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In case you missed the memo, “diversity” is the new religion on campus and academics the new congregation. Diversianity--a term I just coined and wish to trademark--is practiced on campuses with the fervor of an old-time southern revival. Preachers issue moving sermons on the evils of apostasy, they promise forgiveness for past sins, and they lay out the path towards redemption. Just submit, give them a bit more power and control, and you might....just might.....one day reach Heaven.

Followers, however, are perhaps the most entertaining. They raise their hands to the heavens in praise, they jump up and down shouting “Hallelujah,” and they thump the Bible of Diversianity. Like any true believers, they tolerate no dissent. None. Zero. Zilcho. And like any other group of zealots, evidence no longer matters.

Revivals are fun to watch, at least from a distance. The problem is everyone outside the revival tent looks at you as an oddity, or a mental case.

Diversianity is sacred. You cannot question it, cannot critique it, and cannot, under any circumstances, tell “outsiders” how it really works. If you do, people in sheets, I mean suites, will pay you a visit.

When I started my academic career, we were told constantly that process matters in hiring. I attended numerous meetings with HR concerning fair hiring standards, Federal and state hiring laws, and “best” strategies for affirmative-action. The process has to be fair, I was told, and we have to make sure that we broadcast our hiring to the widest possible audience.

Fast forward a few short years. We now have a diversity “church”--or “office” as they call it. We have the chief diversity priest and we have the requisite minions. We now spend millions of tax $$ on “diversity efforts.” These efforts span a remarkable range of areas, including a reworking of our general education curriculum to indoctrinate more students into diversianity, and more recently, to hire more blacks.....and ONLY more blacks.

You see, all of those laws that forbid discrimination in hiring, that forbid the use of quotas, that require public jobs to be advertised and to be advertised broadly.....well, that no longer matters. Today, I’m told, we can bypass all of this and simply hire a black person--and only a black person. We don’t even have to advertise the position or interview the individual.

And of course this cannot be labeled “discrimination” because the intent is good and because diversianity transcends state and federal laws.

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Conservative Affirmative-Action

3/23/2016

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Shields and Dunn have produced a new book titled Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University. The book has been subject to much criticism, especially by those on the right who take umbrage at some of the authors' comments.

http://www.mindingthecampus.org/2016/03/should-conservatives-lead-secret-lives/

I have the book and plan on reading it in the next few weeks.

In the interim, here is an editorial published by the team in the LA Times.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0320-shields-dunn-conservative-affirmative-action-20160320-story.html

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An Interview

3/23/2016

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Professor Chad Posick, who works at Georgia Southern University, asked if I would engage him in a recorded interview about my book. Chad is a great guy and I was happy to oblige.

I hesitantly post the video here and warn you than it was, literally, off the cuff.

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Virginia Tech President = FASCIST

3/23/2016

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I have a new strategy I’m going to use against people I disagree with. Instead of taking time to understand their views and motives, I’m simply going to call them names. It seems to work for other groups so, hey, why not me?

In this case, the President of Virginia Tech is a FASCIST. Or maybe he is just a coward.....but most cowards are racists, oops, I mean FASCISTS, at heart.

Here is the story: Some silly, stupid, backwards, student group at VT invited Charles Murray--aka, Darth Murray--to campus to give a talk. Darth Murray is so named because the tolerant left views Murray as the incarnation of E-V-I-L (say it with me slowly, E--V--I--L). He, along with another really bright guy, wrote a (in)famous book titled The Bell Curve. The book generated all sorts of hate and venom from the tolerant left. Since then, Murray has published a few more books, including one of my favorites, Coming Apart.

Anyway, modern universities are not known for their tolerance of ideas, data, or research........small things like that. When people found out that Murray would be coming to campus......well, the usual players kicked into action.

I swear they have a script...... Key inflammatory statements and aggrieved groups on camera 1.....action....FASCISTS, RACISTS, WE HATE U!......Key reasonable scholar calling for censorship on camera 2......action.....”Murray’s views conflict with VT’s values and respect for diversity and thus will incite violence....we don’t want to close off debate but we feel we have to protect our students.” Key college president cowering in the corner. Fade to black.

So the FASCIST college president at VT sent an email TO THE ENTIRE CAMPUS. The email makes some rather nasty, personal accusations about Murray. Remember, this is coming from the president of a major university. While it was gracious of the FASCIST president to allow Murray to continue with his visit (note that I’m choking on sarcasm) the letter betrays any spirit of objectivity or civility.

I’m really interested in whether the FASCIST president would write such a letter about any other person or group......say.......Black Lives Matters.....?

Didn’t think so.

Murray penned an open letter to the VT community. I’ve also provide a link to his response. Personally, I wish Murray would pen an open lawsuit against VT and their FASCIST president.

http://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2016/03/president-letterprinciples.html

https://www.aei.org/publication/an-open-letter-to-the-virginia-tech-community/

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Crybabies at Emory and Their Babysitters

3/23/2016

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Life is tough. It is fraught with challenging situations and even the occasional traumatic event. Why just the other day, some students at Emory were confronted with the terror of seeing “TRUMP 2016” etched on a sidewalk in chalk.

Imagine the horror.

It’s almost as bad as getting shot at in the Korengal  Valley or seeing your friend killed by an IED. Almost.

Yet these special students, who attend one of the best colleges in the United States, were so traumatized that they stormed the President’s office and demanded that Emory issue an email decrying the brutality of chalking support for Trump. They also demanded more “diversity,” because, you know, they have to....and they demanded some other stuff, because, you know, they have to.

The President of Emory initially balked at the chalk.....but then changed his mind. I wonder why? Not only would he issue a school wide email decrying the chalking, he would direct the cops to search for the chalkers using Emory’s CCTV. The aggrieved party, those fragile little people so traumatized by the chalking, could then file a disciplinary complaint with the university to start the process. When the offenders were found, they would then face charges. If they were from off campus, they would be charged with the crime of trespassing.

I have three reactions to this most absurd set of events.

First, imagine what the internal culture in the administration at Emory must be for them to support this level of stupid. The bubble they exist within must be impenetrable, thus making them immune to reason.

Second, the president of Emory should step down and instead pursue a career at a local daycare center. Apparently he doesn’t quite understand the whole freedom of speech thing or how silly Emory now looks. Since he apparently finds a need to coddle young minds and to protect them from the trauma of reading sidewalk chalk, maybe he should instead take care of those students who cannot yet read. A daycare fits the bill.

Third, there used to be a time in our culture when public displays of cowardice, self-absorbed sniveling, and generally being a *ucking crybaby were frowned on. Not today. Today we celebrate the whiner, the sissy, and the perpetually offended. Our universities embrace these weak links, they give them safe spaces and trigger warnings, and they extend legitimacy to their trauma drama. Who thinks this is a good idea?

To the students so offended by reading TRUMP 2016, know this: Better people than you have suffered harms far worst and far more life-changing.

Better people than you defend our country. Better people than you pick up our garbage, work in the heat of the fields, mine our coal, and pour our drinks. Most will never get the chance to attend college, much less a prestigious school like Emory. Instead they will lead meaningful lives full of family and civic duty. Along the way they will encounter hardship and tragedy. They will do so with dignity--the type of dignity that comes from humility and a deep appreciation for their lives. No college president will rush to their aid. No professor will tell them that all will be well. No committee will study their grievances.

Instead, they will embrace the challenge of living life and living life well. Why? Because they are better than you.

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Posting

3/14/2016

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I apologize for not posting as of late. I’ve been busy getting ready for my upcoming talk at Sam Houston State University, in Texas. They were kind enough to bring me for their annual Beta lecture.

The talk, which I’ll post later, uses data I collected from criminologists and shows the rather dramatic and striking ways in which political ideology and partisanship influence scholars' views on science and their support for CJ policies. Let’s just say that ideology is strongly predictive.........like, really strongly predictive.

More on this later.

I did, however, read of a recent effort to expose some of the BS that academics engage in. In this instance, the professor sought to expose many of the intellectually bereft conferences that are, by the way, held in really nice vacation spots. He did this by submitting fake and clearly problematic papers to the conferences......papers that got accepted.

As you might imagine, conference organizers didn’t find it funny. They threatened to sue the good professor and his university in Little Rock. His university launched an investigation of HIM and found that he didn’t get university IRB approval for his “study.” Instead, he went to an outside IRB where approval was eventually obtained.

In reading about the background of this guy, I found that he has written a good deal on IRB’s. If you know anything about IRB’s, you know they are God (insert curse word) Awful. My experiences with IRB’s have been uniformly bad. While faculty don’t have a problem with the idea or concept behind the IRB, almost everyone I’ve ever talked to believes IRB’s have devolved into something of a joke. No, make that everyone I’ve ever talked to.

We should scrape IRB’s for the social sciences and start over.

Read Here: http://chronicle.com/article/A-Scholar-s-Sting-of/235650/?key=1Ja0uypYsRA97doxjHCtncWgJ408aaF2ZYSv1c2pMNxaRDBubHlkaXRPb0RkZGJQM3lxNWtkQTdXZ1dBUnFnMjFIVndhc1lqVElr

Read his paper here:

irbs_suck.pdf
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My Talk Given to the European Society of Criminology

3/8/2016

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Last summer I was fortunate to be invited to give a talk to the European Society of Criminology in Porto, Portugal. The talk generated a bit of controversy. Well, maybe not the talk but my presence as conference organizers were latter chastised for giving someone like me a platform to speak.

After my talk I was able to speak with a wide range of European academics--academics who wanted to integrate biosocial work into their classes and curriculums. To the person they told me that their colleagues blocked their efforts, that they were constantly accused of working in an area that was racist and/or sexist.

There are many stellar European scholars and much quality work has been done in the area of biosocial criminology by these scholars. They have remarkable data. They are well trained, highly competent, and insightful. It’s unacceptable that their politically motivated colleagues block their efforts.

On a lessor scale, the same thing happens in the United States. Faculty continue to teach that biosocial criminology caused the rise of the 3rd Reich, they continue to hold views about biosocial criminology that are anti-scientific, and many refuse to hire those trained in the area.

My Porto talk addressed some of these substantive issues. What is biosocial criminology? What can it do for us? What are the disciplinary impediments facing us? You can download and read my European talk and the corresponding PowerPoint presentation here.

porto_talk_edited_3_sept.docx
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porto_presentation1.pptx
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IQ2 Debate on Free Speech

3/8/2016

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An interesting and fun debate about free speech on college campuses was hosted by IQ2. While a bit lengthy, the debate sheds important insights into the latest thinking surrounding free speech. The debate can be found here:

http://intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/past-debates/item/1500-free-speech-is-threatened-on-campus

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The Gift That Keeps on Giving........

Appreciation Decay, Detachment, and Anger

Diversianity

Conservative Affirmative-Action

An Interview

Virginia Tech President = FASCIST

Crybabies at Emory and Their Babysitters

Posting

My Talk Given to the European Society of Criminology

IQ2 Debate on Free Speech

John Paul Wright and Matt DeLisi

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