— Comment #103367 by Patrick Glenn and replies
It’s 3 PM, Do You Know What Your Child is Learning?
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1. Posted by Patrick Glenn ›

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   Patrick Glenn Michael, I'm not a big fan of the word (or concept of) "indoctrination," because I think it sells people short. The idea that people can be indoctrinated goes hand-in-hand the idea of false consciousness. When I read about history, I always sort of root for the anti-communists/anti-Marxists (retrospectively, that is). But, perhaps, part of being an effective anti-communist (or anti-Alinskyite) is using one's opponents' own tools against them, which often involves buying into some or many of their assumptions, too. Thus, people/students can be influenced to varying degrees but rarely can they be truly indoctrinated (short of Mao-style efforts). People/students in a free democratic republic are ultimately responsible for their own beliefs and actions. On the other hand, the liberal/progressive stranglehold on academia does not have to lead to widespread "indoctrination" to do a lot of damage. Not surpisingly, I have serious issues with the sociopolitical implications of these phenomena (which influence, not indoctrinate). What's the biggest problem with Hollywood these days? Yeah, more and more, it's becoming a wasteland of liberal/progressive groupthink, moral backruptcy, etc. But, more importantly, the movies being made in Hollywood almost universally suck! The creeping mediocrity is more worrisome than the so-called creeping indoctrination. Likewise, what's the biggest problem with liberal/progressive academia . . . Where I might differ with some other folks who hammer away at these and related issues is that I place the final responsibility on the consumer, not the producer. The producer will keep selling us Pop Tarts and Dancing With the Stars as long as we digest them (and I'm not putting myself above other consumers, either, because I ate a Pop Tart the other day and have watched reality t.v. within the last month, and I'm not begruding the producer making a buck). Setting aside the question of whether academia partly influences or outright indoctrinates its students, though, what Professor Lipsman described is also a serious issue within the academic world: the hostility to non-progressive views as pertains to advancement within the institutional framework, which is not really that subtle and it doesn't creep up on students/faculty. It's usually right out in the open, slapping down those who step out of line. If a student is only there to get a 4-year education and is not concerned about grad school, doesn't have any interest in becoming a professor him or herself, etc., then he or she can observe this dysfunctional hostility in a detached manner - use it as a laboratory for studying progressivism/liberalism (I did) - and then get out. But not all have that luxury.