Colleges Being Remade Into "Repress U"?

The Nation has up a sobering article from its upcoming issue about how colleges and universities are being turned into homeland security campuses, in the name of preventing homegrown radicalization. Quoting: "From Harvard to UCLA, the ivory tower is fast becoming the latest watchtower in Fortress America. The terror warriors, having turned their attention to "violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism prevention' — as it was recently dubbed in a House of Representatives bill of the same name — have set out to reconquer that traditional hotbed of radicalization, the university."

Comments

Anyone one else see that sign saying:

[illegalcortex]

Please do not feed the troll.

Well, I suppose it makes a kind of sense

[hey!]

I'm not talking about chic radicalism of one end of the political spectrum or another, which has been a mostly harmless feature of academic life since the days of Hamlet.

But it turns out that terrorist do come from the ranks of educated, well to do people, not the oppressed masses. Radicalism is a luxury lifestyle; the oppressed masses are too busy eking out a living.

So, if you're concerned about terrorists, the university is the kind of place that will breed them. It's not the university's fault, they really can't do their job without exposing students to a variety of viewpoints, and that is what ensures there will always be fashionable radicalism on campus. Yet any person who has fallen under that spell can, under the right conditions, be transformed into a terrorist.

The right conditions seem to be this: living under a government that is oppressive, paternalistic, and deceitful.

Perhaps this story is best filed under "never do things by halves."