The Coddling of the American Mind

[Nephrology]

The Coddling of the American Mind is a fantastic book by two authors who examine seismic shifts in the way that children/young adults are taught to view the world - particularly, the world of ideas that make them uncomfortable - and how that almost certainly is causing them great future harm.

Goes on at length about safe spaces, etc, but instead of just attacking and lampooning them (easy enough) they demonstrate rather persuasively how and why this movement arose, and exactly what the consequences have been/ will be.

A representative excerpt:

[Nephrology]

A couple more (summary of Chapter 1)

[Seven_Sicks_Two]

My wife frequently complained about teaching in a "trauma informed" school during her last year in the classroom. Telling the teacher, "I'm having anxiety..." became a consequence-free eject button used by kids that just wanted to get out of class or avoid doing school work. Students that were actually disruptive weren't held accountable because they had (fill in the blank) trauma.

It's bullshit.

[NH Shooter]

And they all eventually register as Democrats.

[RoyGBiv]

And they all eventually register as Democrats.

My version...

If you're not a Democrat when you're 20 you have no heart.
If you're not a Republican when you're 50 you have no job.

[olstyn]

My version...

If you're not a Democrat when you're 20 you have no heart.
If you're not a Republican when you're 50 you have no job.

It's possible to be a 20-year old Democrat who believes in being responsible for your own shit, though. I once was one somewhat by default, as that's representative of the house I grew up in. I had two very blue-voting parents who, despite being dyed in the wool Democrats, taught me to be self-reliant. As I got older and *more* cynical, I trended more and more to the political center, and when I got into owning guns in my late 20s/early 30s, any allegiance I had for the Democrat party was gone. That's not to say I'm a Republican now, though, at 41; I just pretty much hate both parties equally. You could call me a libertarian-ish political misanthrope and not be too far off. :P

[Nephrology]

Well, re: party affiliation: to be fair, the book does not spare conservatives either. However, because the topic of the book is primarily about the dynamics on US college campuses, the left ends up being the focus of most of their writing.

They do address the increasingly polarized political climate in this context in the excerpt below. I think it shows pretty well that their take on things is pretty reasonably non-partisan. It's worth noting that one of the authors is a libertarian free speech activist.







They cite lots of very specific examples in the book. It is definitely worth the $6 I paid for the Kindle version.

[Joe in PNG]

^^It's a thing I like to call Outrage Porn, and each side has it's inexhaustible sources.

[Nephrology]

^^It's a thing I like to call Outrage Porn, and each side has it's inexhaustible sources.

Yup. Here's how they summarize that chapter:





Lately I try as actively as I can to avoid consuming that kind of media, regardless of how much it may be validating.

[Totem Polar]

It's possible to be a 20-year old Democrat who believes in being responsible for your own shit, though. I once was one somewhat by default, as that's representative of the house I grew up in. I had two very blue-voting parents who, despite being dyed in the wool Democrats, taught me to be self-reliant. As I got older and *more* cynical, I trended more and more to the political center, and when I got into owning guns in my late 20s/early 30s, any allegiance I had for the Democrat party was gone. That's not to say I'm a Republican now, though, at 41; I just pretty much hate both parties equally. You could call me a libertarian-ish political misanthrope and not be too far off. :P

I’m in much the same boat, though I hasten to add that it’s not so much that a bunch of us grew up and moved away from the dems, as it is that the elite left took the dems, and moved them away from us. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Tom Foley a number of times, and I remember when he was endorsed by the NRA, pretty much every election. A lot has changed since the Clinton-era assault weapon ban, and the NRA backing Nethercutt in retaliation.

I think it’s safe to say that I’m still a lot more like the old me of my youth than the current democratic party is like the dem party of my youth. Extremely safe.