Hi everyone, I haven't been active in Solid Ground for a while, but I am still alive and kicking! I now work as personal assistant to a mind-bendingly weird and diva-esque artist-lip-syncher-performer named Fiona Blueberry. She is blissfully clueless about politics and seems to be completely unaware of the culture wars. Working with her is a breath of fresh air. If you need a mood lift, I encourage you to watch this video we made together. Happy 4th, everyone! Wishing you fun/love/peace on this holiday. :) www.fionablueberry.com
Our very own @YayRain (after having imbibed some golden nectar), shares with us yet one more problem with CRT....
Here's another conversation with Georgetown political-science prof Joshua Mitchell, this one from July of last year. Again, I'd recommend taking in just the first fifteen minutes and seeing if anything lands.
For me there's a host of new angles and helpful framings, including Mitchell's idea that "identity politics" (Mitchell's preferred term) is the latest in a line of "incomplete religions" that includes Marxism and the French Revolution, all of which are characterized by identifying the innocent and the guilty, which, to Mitchell, is a fundamentally Christian trait but which here, in these secular systems, is applied incompletely (e.g., no redemption in social justice/privilege theory for the scapegoated category of white male).
You don't need to be a Christian or a god-believer of any sort to appreciate Mitchell's approach, which fundamentally is that, in the "complete" idea-system of Christianity, guilt is carried by each of us (this is the original sin concept; the Fall; the ...
Interesting survey of college students
"We asked: Have you ever pretended to hold more progressive views than you truly endorse to succeed socially or academically? An astounding 88 percent said yes.
These students were not cynical, but adaptive. In a campus environment where grades, leadership, and peer belonging often hinge on fluency in performative morality, young adults quickly learn to rehearse what is safe.
The result is not conviction but compliance. And beneath that compliance, something vital is lost."
