16 Comments
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Yancey's avatar

This is a great essay. Thank you.

earl's avatar

Thank you. It can't be said enough: this is a civilizational conflict. It's about preserving Western Civilization, the civilization that dragged man out of tribalism. Collectivism, known by many names, is atavistic.

BigT's avatar

"When schools replace actual education with social justice activism, they are quite literally wiring tribalism and resentment into the developing mind. They are teaching children to see color before character, and power dynamics before humanity. This isn’t just bad teaching; it is unintentional neurological injury to a generation of humans."

And in Gaza, Iran, and elsewhere, they are instilling antisemitism and anti-Americanism. No wonder we have the troubles we have.

David Cody's avatar

Well said. I’ll add the classroom “neurological injury” may be intentional. Building lifelong warriors is a passion for a troubling number of educators

Lightwing's avatar

“…a battle for the soul of the West.” Yes.

And, brava! Thank you for your clarity and moral courage. It is people like you who will win the day.

Liz's avatar

Thank you for your insights, Diana. Unfortunately, they are very true.

Aimee's avatar

Thank you for this incredibly brave and lucid piece. As a parent, I am equally appalled by the shift in our schools. You are exactly right that the rise of anti-Semitism in our classrooms isn't a random flare-up—it is the predictable result of replacing merit and individual dignity with tribalism and group identity. When schools stop teaching children how to think and start telling them what to believe, the 'canary in the coal mine' starts to sing. We cannot remain silent while our children are conditioned to see power dynamics instead of humanity.

TomD's avatar

Absolutely correct! I've seen it happening with my grandkids in a NYC suburb. I'd be interested in knowing if you've had any success in combatting this issue. It seems the more educated the educator is, the more doctrinaire he or she becomes

Glenn McNair's avatar

The "smartest" people are the ones most quickly and easily seduced by ideology and are its most ardent defenders because they know best. As my working class parents always said, "Some people are so smart they're stupid."

Jake Wiskerchen's avatar

Collectivism is antithetical to personal accountability, which is required in healthcare.

Bex Keyes's avatar

Thank you for saying "educated" instead of educated!

Anna Krylov's avatar

Thank you! We must fight this toxic ideology on all fronts- and especially in schools, where early indoctrination happens

Winkfield Twyman's avatar

Thank you for bringing the neurological injury of forced dogmas and slogan words to light. We need more critiques of ideology before excellence.

Robin's avatar

Thank you. Well said.

Laura's avatar

Fantastic piece, Diana. I was appalled by what I witnessed during the pandemic while working at an academic medical center. I have significant concerns about the medical students who were trained during that time. Too much focus on politics and ideology and not enough on the science and practice of medicine. Thank you for your advocacy!

Notes on Schools's avatar

Thank you for your thoughts on this unfortunately divided topic. Your reference to the fact that actual education is increasingly being replaced with social justice activism particularly resonates with what I've been looking into recently as well as my own classroom experience in education. I'd be very interested to hear your perspective on a recent piece I have written which touches on the more tokenised 'innovations' of modern education, for example the idea of racial identity politics in mainstream classrooms. Hope you don't mind me attaching a link here: https://samuelkammin.substack.com/p/supplementation-or-tokenism-bolt