Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

On My Mind
Endangered Species
James D. Miller, 06.07.04

Enjoy perilous work? Try being a conservative on a college campus in Massachusetts.
This is a story of how I was--almost--done in by the politically correct crowd. In April 2000 my career as an economics teacher at Smith College looked bright. Despite my having published only one academic article in four years, my department liked my teaching and "strongly" recommended me for reappointment. I was extremely productive over the next two and a half years, publishing five additional academic articles and a book. In 2002, however, my department voted to fire me by denying tenure. Why? I believe it was because after April 2000 I started espousing conservative viewpoints in op-ed articles.

Very few Republicans, let alone conservatives, teach at American colleges. A 2001 poll of 151 professors at Ivy League universities found that only 3% considered themselves Republican, while 57% said they were Democrats. I suspect that on many campuses Marxists greatly outnumber Republicans. Leftist professors, consequently, are surrounded by kindred spirits and often find it challenging to even conceive of a sane conservative intellectual. Furthermore (and fortunately for me), many professors are so comfortable in their disdain for the right that they don't even try to hide their political bigotry.

Each of the nine senior members of the economics department who voted on my tenure had to write a letter to the college president explaining the reasoning behind his or her vote. One member wrote how I had "publicly" criticized academia in my book, Game Theory at Work. Another wrote how she was "disturbed" by some of the views I had expressed in a "National Review Online" article about why college professors are so left-wing. Among my positions that some academics find disturbing: that the U.S. should invade countries such as Iran, which I believe support anti-American terrorists, and that markets are usually more effective than governments at organizing economic activities.

Smith's five-person Grievance Committee unanimously ruled that these two members of the economics department had violated my academic freedom, and as a result I was allowed to come up for tenure a second time. On the second vote I was again voted down.

In early May this year Smith's Board of Trustees, perhaps fearing a lawsuit and negative publicity, overturned this decision and granted me tenure.

To give you an idea of the political atmosphere on campus, in October 2002 several faculty members sent a petition to the president objecting to an invitation to Ann Coulter, the conservative pundit, to speak on campus. No one objected, however, when a porn star gave a how-to talk at Smith on anal sex. Once when I was interviewing a job candidate over lunch with two other members of the economics department, the three of them started criticizing, in very harsh terms, those who opposed affirmative action. They had just assumed that I agreed with them.

My tenure fight generated a large amount of publicity, which led to my being recruited to run for the Massachusetts state senate this fall.As part of my platform I have proposed starting an institute to bring intellectual diversity in academia to Massachusetts. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst is an otherwise excellent school whose humanities and social science faculty is almost exclusively left-wing.

To balance that I would create what I call the Minuteman Institute, which would hire faculty to teach from a procapitalist viewpoint. Its members would teach traditional courses. For example, the Minuteman Institute might hire a women's studies professor who, in contrast to nearly every other women's studies professor in America, wouldn't start her class by assuming that America is racist, sexist and homophobic.

The Minuteman Institute I seek to create would in no way prevent left-wing professors from criticizing America. Rather, it would seek to ensure that students also hear arguments as to why America, capitalism and indeed Western civilization have greatly benefited mankind.

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

I do alot of work at BU, Harvard, Simmons college . As a hard working conservative I am sickened by what is taught/brainwashed at these facilities..And most of the students are first or second generation imigrants ..It scares me to think what the future of the country will be with these twisted so called itellectuals forcing there views on these developing minds.. Thanks god for the silent majority..
And lets remember "Freedom isn't free"
Youve got my vote !

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

I would vote for you but I live out here in the S.R.W (Socialist Republic of Washington) where not only do the socialists completely control the University programs (I am an alum of the UW) but they contol all forms of the media.

They LOVE big Government programs and want the state to take from those who work to pay for their social programs so that they do not have to.

It is my opinion they wish we were France.

PS They wish they had Volvos but drive Subarus with Yakima roof packs and drive 10 under the speed limit in the left lane next to another going 10 under.

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

It creates balance.

They teach them sh!t while their parents pay thru the azz for that, then...they get taxed thru the same rear end and become republican if they are in anyway successful. Cycle of life. Besides if you have any ability or ambition why would you work as a teacher in such a communistic thinking environment???? They are the free markets rejects working in those schools with tenure and no accountability for their results.... Please.

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

The scary part, i went to a public school in SOUTH CAROLINA, thats right, the state where not 4 blocks from my classes the Confederate flag was flying at the capitol building...it was the exact same as what is described here. Its not just "up north" or "out there" its everywhere, these freakin nut-jobs are in every school, makes me sick how much people talk about a degree and these are the freakin people teaching in every college.

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

OK, I really don't want to start anything here but one question is begging to be asked here: why is it that a great majority of university professors, who are supposed to be the intellectual elite, chose to embrace the leftist ideology?

IMHO, it has to do with discrepancies between the theory and real life but what's your opinion?

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

That is an enormously erroneous supposition ST to say the least. IMO


Tenure compared to getting canned. Real life requires results. You're right on here ST.

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

Well, i did say "supposed" as opposed to "are" which is far less affirmative. But yes, real life is about cutting the BS and getting to work... IMHO naturally.

However, the point is that you can look at it from different angles. Lefties will say that those ideas appeal to professors because they are intelligent and ultimately make sense.

Every time you have two angles of vision like that which never overlap and have no chance of meeting, discussions are pointless. Which is my point: stop wasting your time guys and start researching diesel power and surface drives :D

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

It's easiest to push your viewpoint by silencing the opposition.

Re: Forbes: our left-wing granola eatin tree hugger friends
 

In a vacuum or theory all those leftist theories make perfect sense, Universal Health-care, Communism and all that lefty crap (I mean communist get rid of lawyers as one of their first order of business how can that be bad :D) but all those are exercised by flawed humans (we all are) which are very far from working in a vacuum. Besides all those have been tried in practice and have failed or held back economical development and stifled the will for personal achievements.

You commy pinko, buy a couple Blown Detroit Big Block and start burning gas and blowing up drives like we do on this side of the pond!!! :D:D:D

As usual nice talking to you ST!