In his essay Less Than One, Joseph Brodsky—an exiled Soviet poet who settled in the United States and went on to win a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987—wrote that he began to despise Lenin in the first grade “because of his omnipresent images which plagued almost every textbook, every class wall, postage stamps, money, and what not…”.
This is a brilliant analysis. It brought tears to my eyes, as it reminded me of my schooling in the USSR. I was a diligent student, so I do remember these foundational works by Lenin very well! Seeing them side-by-side with statements of the adherents of Critical Social Justice ideologues should be a wake-up call for our colleges and fellow citizens. Indeed, the philosophical roots of today's ideology (based on postmodernism and a slew of Critical Theories) and Marxism-Leninism are the same. And the implementation of these ideologies will yield similar results. Yes, communism kills! Identity-based ideologies have been tried before, with devastating results. Equity leads to economic downfall, universal misery and suffering. As Vladimir Bukovsky said: "Is it really surprising that whenever you get striving for equality and fraternity, the guillotine appears on the scene?" We must root these ideologies out, before it is too late.
Apr 3, 2023·edited Apr 3, 2023Liked by Dorian Abbot
Bravo, Ilya! To date, none of the “other-than-merit” proponents have answered two simple questions:
1) What is it exactly that I need to do now as a scientist that I was not doing 3 years ago before DEI overtook college priorities (at the expense of merit and campus safety, I believe)?
2) On a surgery table, how would they fill in the blank in this request?: “I know you have the best surgeon coming to operate on me, but I would rather have a … surgeon”.
Well, 1) is rather clear, I believe: allegedly, you need to adapt your curriculum to specific ("marginalized") populations ("decolonize" it), adjust evaluation methods so as not to present barriers, adopt "inclusive" hiring and promotion policies, and so on, and so forth. Indeed, hiring competitions now depend on the content of the DEI statements.
Note that both communists and the Nazis have already explored, if one might use this term, curriculum adaptations: the former advocated science and education for the workers and by the workers, underpinned by marxist theology, the latter - Aryan science...
The Soviets have also attempted to abolish evaluation: marks, exams, homework, only to re-introduce all of it some years later.
A similar pattern can be found examining promotion and advancement policies. Wherever the survival of the empire depended on it, meritocratic policies were adopted in the USSR (the atomic bomb project is a striking example, but there were also the returns of military commanders and technical intelligentsia in the war years). In some sense, the hold the ideology took on the Nazis - the hold they wouldn't relax - doomed them to failure (thankfully). The Soviets succeeded by abandoning ideology in a few key areas, which catalyzed the destruction of the Soviet Union.
I guess we are destined to re-live these things, albeit in a softer version. Progress.
This is a brilliant analysis. It brought tears to my eyes, as it reminded me of my schooling in the USSR. I was a diligent student, so I do remember these foundational works by Lenin very well! Seeing them side-by-side with statements of the adherents of Critical Social Justice ideologues should be a wake-up call for our colleges and fellow citizens. Indeed, the philosophical roots of today's ideology (based on postmodernism and a slew of Critical Theories) and Marxism-Leninism are the same. And the implementation of these ideologies will yield similar results. Yes, communism kills! Identity-based ideologies have been tried before, with devastating results. Equity leads to economic downfall, universal misery and suffering. As Vladimir Bukovsky said: "Is it really surprising that whenever you get striving for equality and fraternity, the guillotine appears on the scene?" We must root these ideologies out, before it is too late.
Till now, only my poetry brought tears to people's eyes. It would seem that my prose does, too...
Bravo, Ilya! To date, none of the “other-than-merit” proponents have answered two simple questions:
1) What is it exactly that I need to do now as a scientist that I was not doing 3 years ago before DEI overtook college priorities (at the expense of merit and campus safety, I believe)?
2) On a surgery table, how would they fill in the blank in this request?: “I know you have the best surgeon coming to operate on me, but I would rather have a … surgeon”.
Well, 1) is rather clear, I believe: allegedly, you need to adapt your curriculum to specific ("marginalized") populations ("decolonize" it), adjust evaluation methods so as not to present barriers, adopt "inclusive" hiring and promotion policies, and so on, and so forth. Indeed, hiring competitions now depend on the content of the DEI statements.
Note that both communists and the Nazis have already explored, if one might use this term, curriculum adaptations: the former advocated science and education for the workers and by the workers, underpinned by marxist theology, the latter - Aryan science...
The Soviets have also attempted to abolish evaluation: marks, exams, homework, only to re-introduce all of it some years later.
A similar pattern can be found examining promotion and advancement policies. Wherever the survival of the empire depended on it, meritocratic policies were adopted in the USSR (the atomic bomb project is a striking example, but there were also the returns of military commanders and technical intelligentsia in the war years). In some sense, the hold the ideology took on the Nazis - the hold they wouldn't relax - doomed them to failure (thankfully). The Soviets succeeded by abandoning ideology in a few key areas, which catalyzed the destruction of the Soviet Union.
I guess we are destined to re-live these things, albeit in a softer version. Progress.
it is all so obvious, yet all so depressing. Great article.
Well written and persuasive, but too late I’m afraid. Much too late.
Better late than never.
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