Progressive Reformation: Theses 21 to 40

In a previous blog entry, I had discussed the need for a progressive reformation, and listed 20 proposed theses.  The response was quite positive - the most viewed post on this blog so far, so I'll take that as a good sign and carry on, then.  Another twenty theses it is!

21.  The left has an academia problem.  There's nothing wrong with being a leftist academic. But too much time in Ivory Tower echo chambers creates distance from the realities of common people, and over reliance on self-referencing theory that seems to have to take precedence over reality whenever the two conflict.  Academic disdain for the plebs, when it happens, does not belong on the left.

22.  Academia has a left problem.  It is no secret now that political correctness and an ideological chill effect prevails on many campuses.  Censorship and no-platforming of right leaning speakers is merely the tip of the iceberg.  Leftist ideologues act as gate keepers, barring career progress for academics who don't tow the correct line.  This is not a healthy thing for a democratic polity.

23.  Let's be honest here: Do any of you really believe this postmodernism crap?  If morality and even man's basic means of acquiring moral knowledge are really socially constructed and merely reflections of existing prejudices, than how can you be so sure that feminism and multiculturalism are truly preferable to patriarchy and racism?  Because you sure act as if they are.

24.  The black studies and women's studies departments do not speak for all people of color and women.  Stop acting as if they do.  They speak for a cult of ideologues and the closed body of self referencing work it produces.  Where external (or even internal) criticisms of cherished doctrines are frowned upon as being 'oppressive', you've created a credentialized ideological echo chamber.  

25.  There is a crucial difference between advocating for equal rights for a discriminated against group, and simply being partisans in favor of that group.  Progressives have lost sight of the difference long ago.  This was supposed to be about bring women and minorities to parity with white males, not simply being pro-woman, pro minority, right or wrong.  See theses 1 and 2.

26.  There is a crucial difference between "harassment" and "hate speech,"on the one hand, and disagreement in good faith with the tenets of social justice academia, on the other.  Learn what that difference is and see to it that it is respected in legislation, in academia, in the workplace, online and in all of your personal relationships.  

27.  For God's sake (no pun intended), learn the difference between a race and a religion.  Stop treating religion as a proxy for race, and stop assuming that despite for religions coded white (Christianity) is fair game while despite for religions coded brown/black (Islam) somehow equates to racism or colonialism.  See theses 1 and 5 in the previous entry.

28.  Pursuant to 21 above, stop with the Islamic exceptionalism already.  Please.  Just stop.  You'd be the first to object to dominionist theologians who want biblical law for western nations, so stop pandering and kowtowing to Islamist migrants who want Shari'a law.  Sharia' law does not belong in the west.  Period.

29.  There's a difference between an honest and critical analysis of Islamic theology on the one hand, and hatred for Muslim people and advocacy of abuse against them on the other.  Please display knowledge of this difference during discourse on the subject.  See theses 7, 8, 15-18 in the previous entry.

30.  Much of the concern that westerners have with Islamism lies with just how illiberal it is.  They have no concept of separation of church and state.  They have blasphemy laws.  They execute people who renounce the faith.  They call for the infiltration of and, if possible, the conquest of non Islamic societies.  What business do progressive leftists have with any of this?  Why do we want it in our countries?

31.  The treatment of women, LGBT people, non Muslims, the wrong kinds of Muslims and so on in places like Saudi Arabia, the Islamic State and Taliban controlled Afghanistan should especially concern progressive people.  Or is their plight not important because their oppressors aren't white, Christian or European?  Think long on the racism implicit in this line of reasoning.  See thesis 1 in the previous entry. 

32.  Mass immigration.  Just mass immigration.  Stop and think.  By flooding a polity in unskilled laborers, you drive wages down and prices up, and strain existing infrastructure, compromising the government's ability to provide essential services to its population.  The poor and lower rungs of the working classes pay the price for this.  If support for mass immigration is therefore progressive, who needs conservatives?  See theses 7 and 8 in the previous entry.

33.  Reconciling support for mass immigration, especially from Islamic societies with support for radical feminism, queer politics, trans-rights and so on makes squaring the circle look easy, logical and obvious.  Unless the name of the game is "destroy western civilization by whatever means are necessary," which progressives insist it isn't whenever the far right suggests this, pause and reflect on this.  See theses 1, 7 and 8 in the previous entry.

34.  Being offended isn't an argument.  Stop acting like it is.  Hurt feelings do not absolve you of the requirement that you prove your point.  See theses 15, 18 and 20.

35.  Stop denying or handwaving events that are harmful to your narrative.  Do not say that there are no false claims of campus date rape or that there are no substantiated claims of migrant rape, especially in Europe.  It's hard to keep information away from people in the social media age.  Even if most moderators on social media pages are progressives who work hard to suppress such news.  The news will get out, and it will damage your credibility if you've previously tried to suppress it.

36.  Most mainstream media and especially most social media platforms have a strongly progressive/liberal bias.  Just admit it.  They do.  Consider how this might invalidate your claims that your charmed circle of preferred identities are marginalized.  See thesis 19.  And claiming corporate concentration of media ownership does not get you out of this.  Rather, ponder instead the relationship between rapacious capitalism and social liberalism.

37.  Laws and corporate policies that limit or suppress free speech almost always work to the ultimate benefit of the powerful.  Censorship has very rarely, if ever, really benefited marginalized people.  Using hate speech and harassment laws and allegations of bigotry to smear or silence people empowers state and corporate power much more than it empowers marginalized minorities.  It is a strategy the left needs to reconsider.

38.  Left of center activists have no business trying to get people fired from their jobs due to their political beliefs.  For how long did leftists object, and rightly so, when this was done to them?  Have we forgotten the red scare and McCarthyism?  Supporting the sacking of white nationalists and Christian fundamentalists sets a dangerous precedent that progressives will be reminded of when this is, once again, done to them and they object to it.

39.  Any kind of "leftism" that measures progress by how many women and people of color are CEOs  of or sit on the boards of directors of fortune 500 corporations is hardly a leftism worth having.  The problem here is not equal opportunity to serve in senior management if qualified, but of ignoring the huge concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of so few senior personnel.

40.  An off color joke or remark that offends a minority, or a male complementing a female coworker can result in legal settlements worth millions of dollars and destroy multiple careers while abuse of the rights of the workers, union busting, outsourcing, predatory marketing practices, accountancy scandals, environmental degradation and corruption of public officials - among other abuses - barely warrant legislative and quite often media attention.  I shouldn't have to say this is a problem, but I do have to.  Frequently. 

Ideas for a thesis?  Share in the comments!