Current Trends by Natasha Sapp

Honesty someone should have informed his fellow presidents, deans, professors and related faculty, not to mention him, before he grabbed a microphone and sounded just as whiny as the students he was chastising. Because, finding another way to bash youth suddenly becoming America’s hero, at least internet hero, with what you managed to make go viral ranting about the current generation is getting old. That is after someone confronted him on the wisdom of allowing media to take a press photo, or providing a stock photo from a prior school event complete with that splotch on his face that’s anything from birth mark, shaving irritation, to cold sore forming, herpes sore scar or something darker polite discourse and reasonable political correctness, which is in no way a dirty word, dirty phrase, says shouldn’t be mentioned or bandied about lightly. Just think of the open shirt court room scene in Tom Hanks’ stellar performance during the movie Philadelphia. But in all seriousness, as if telling, yelling at someone to grow up, condescension and sarcasm fully apparent, has ever achieved its desired goal; it is hardly un-adult, non-grown up, selfish, self-absorbed or narcissistic to protest what these students he cites, at his own institution and across the country, are protesting. Racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, bigotry being those things students refuse to continue having a stomach for. Racism alive and well on college campuses; who could forget the frat caught on camera singing a song about ‘there will never be an N- at SAE, implying they would hang from a tree first, or the rope noose hanging in a public area of another university later identified as a prank, and less than 2 weeks after our distinguished president’s declaration about his educational institution, students at Citadel military college caught on camera wearing white hoods reminding blacks there of KKK hoods. That of course all before you factor in the black lives matter movement, names like Freddie Gray, LaQuan McDonald, Linwood Lambert Jr. of Virginia, Ronald Johnson of Chicago, the erupting protests there and why. Sexism part of the seemingly epidemic rape culture present on every college campus; equally important to the Rolling Stone article on the violent, gang rape of a student named Jackie by fraternity members being proven false is the reality of how prevalent rape truly is on campus, the universal agreement something traumatic, probably some form of sexual assault, did happen to this person even if the story she gave the music magazine was wholly wrong, details completely off. Most important of all the shockingly out of touch and inadequate response by universities advising sorority women not to go to frat parties, believing that would somehow magically solve the problem. Not to mention what was found out this year about the ongoing saga involving Bill Cosby the deeply flawed, predatory man behind the persona, what he likely did to women and got away with for decades; currently sewing 7 of his dozens of accusers for defamation, always staunchly denying any sexual misconduct. This is the backdrop behind which we saw university of Missouri presidents resign amidst protests and the backdrop in which Everett Piper used one student’s complaint to comment on a growing trend, students who want to be placated and coddled according to adults, who are demanding safe spaces and freedom from discomfort along the line of forgoing racially charged literature and not having to hear the word violate or rape law in a law class, clamoring for trigger warnings on the least little bit of violent literature, literature depicting rape, racially charged offerings from differing points in history. Piper with plenty of supporters who think it is about time, long past time someone told these whinny, sniveling youngsters to grow up; one comment article’s title “Awesome: Oklahoma Wesleyan President Tells Students to Grow Up.”  It’s occupy Wall Street all over again and once again the adults don’t get it; who has the bigger problem with being selfish, self-absorbed, narcissistic, students learning to exercise their rights and freedoms in the semi adult world before being sent out into it completely or the guy upset he has to teach them to better use those rights and freedoms in a place he calls an institution of learning, learning that seems to be most uncomfortable to him? Who is more in need of a lesson, lecture, should be called wrong or wasting peoples time, students   striving for ‘the utopia we know we’ll never reach’ or the guy complaining about students at least striving for the utopia we’ll never reach?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S2AZdAbQpo

Yet his example doesn’t even aspire to that caliber totally unrelated to the protests at any of the universities nationwide keyed off by what transpired at the University of Missouri, concerns about racial and other serious issues; his example centered around a student who apparently came up to him during the homily on love, part of the school’s regular chapel service, and the following quote from the Washington Post reprint of a letter he subsequently sent to the college community describes the exchange. “This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt “victimized” by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears that this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love! In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable.” He goes on through the next page or so to bash what culture has taught our kids to be, selfish, self-absorbed, narcissistic signaling any time their feelings are hurt they are the victim; “anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them “feel bad” about themselves, is a “hater,” a “bigot,” an “oppressor,” and a “victimizer.” Saying he had a message for that student calling the discomfort he felt at the sermon a conscience, alter calls were supposed to make you feel bad, compel you to confess your sins, not coddle your selfishness, the goal of the Christian church, the Christian faith was confession not self-actualization. Next if you don’t like it, maybe Wesleyan isn’t the place for you; if you want the chaplain to tell you, you are a victim, rather than you need virtue, maybe you’re in the wrong place. Wesleyan teaches selflessness over selfishness, dealing with your own hate not “playing the hatter card,” is interested in you practicing personal forgiveness not political revenge, interpersonal reconciliation not instigating personal conflict, believing content of character is more relevant than color of skin and declaring they don’t issue trigger warnings before alter calls. You can almost picture him shouting the last as if it were a sermon, espousing Wesleyan is not a ‘safe place’ but a place to learn life is about others not you, the feeling is guilt and alleviating it is about dealing with what’s wrong with you, not everything wrong with others, a place you quickly learn you need to grow up, ending with the currently famous, infamous line, this is not a day care; this is a university. Side stepping for a moment the religious element elephant in the room, the intellectual prudence of attending a college with a religious slant or the horrible misuse of the concept surrounding self-actualization, fulfillments of talents, possibilities and understanding what those are for you, exactly what college should be about, precisely what he should be helping students achieve, either the media, the public got it wrong lumping in what this president said to his students based on that incident with the rash of protests across the country, though the content of character versus color of skin reference would strongly suggest otherwise. Or they pegged it right on the money calling into question several things about his superior, adult handling of the situation proving again the university president doesn’t have a clue. Did he even understand the student’s complaint or would it be better characterized as a question; was he seeking to stop sermons evoking guilt, a conscience or was he seeking guidance regarding action to take addressing how he felt?  How much credence is to be given to the following comment, since the student made no demands listed by Piper, say firing the chaplain, made no effort to rally others to his cause of discontinuing sermons, alter calls, instituting a trigger warning the president condescendingly referencing they don’t do and the fact that, according to the story, he approached the president of the college, not the owner of the “offensive” comments, even with the ‘failing logic of millennials?’ “It appears that Piper didn’t actually speak with the student who had the complaint. The student spoke with the person who gave the sermon and that person told Piper. Piper then uses the hearsay to stereotype “the culture” and bash that student on national media. Sounds like a real upper-crust kind of guy.” Further, assuming your assessment of what the student wanted, was trying to communicate was correct why wouldn’t you carry on this discussion in private with the student and yourself not put their business on blast for the nation, the world to see? As what evidence of how adult you are; here is your shining example of how adults should behave– really? Being devil’s advocate momentarily and taking for granted the commenter has inside information, knows the inner workings of the conversation, how Piper actually found out about the student’s objections;  you must subconsciously want to run a daycare, it must be a daycare you are running if you tolerate, expect or request such tattle tailing among grown people. Mystifying is what’s wrong with seeing a college, university as a daycare, by his skewed definition, when if he means by ‘daycare’ imparting life lessons, helping students reach their full potential including in the areas of personal and emotional growth so they are ready for the larger world. Which he seems unwilling and unprepared to do pointing to maybe he’s the one in the wrong place; maybe something else too, maybe if we did treat universities, colleges like daycares according to his use of the word, capitalized on teachable moments the right way it wouldn’t have been another Oklahoma school’s fraternity singing there will never be a N- at SAE, just a thought. There wouldn’t be road rage incidents spanning miles and a guy so intoxicated he can’t be booked into jail a day later; it wouldn’t have been a white Oklahoma police officer convicted on several counts of rape, sexual battery, sodomy, exhibitionism targeting the poorest, most marginalized, minority citizens of color in his city, those with outstanding arrest warrants until a grandmother stood up and said enough is enough.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/11/30/college-president-rejects-safe-spaces-writing-this-is-not-a-day-care-this-is-a-university/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dinmxkjZkCg

Indicating this isn’t about what dumb thing students chose to protest, what ridiculous, idiotic demand they dared exact from an educational institution they would never receive in the real world and it’s time they realized it; it’s about having the public relations skills of Idi Amin is no longer going to cut it. The problem isn’t the protest it’s the response; similar to fallout from the UVA article in Rolling Stone, suggestions not going to frat parties would stop campus rapes, the presidents the of University of Missouri found themselves on the business end of protests because no one would properly confront students’ issues about race and racism on campus. Had they dutifully investigated student claims, taken appropriate steps no one would have been calling for their resignations. Resignations followed because they let the festering issue rather than the protests get out of control before sitting up and paying attention; resignations that were, to be clear, utterly voluntary despite student demands.  Worth noting it took the striking of the football team, the school’s premium cash cow, to precipitate action on legitimate student concerns. Message still not received as a local congressman there, Rick Brattin, wants to sign a bill into law stripping scholarship money from athletes who refuse to play for anything other than health reasons making a statement about those taking state dollars. They stand up for what they believe is right, defend a cause toward making their campus a better place, facilitating better quality, diverse learning for those dollars and they potentially face revoking of their scholarship for exercising their freedom of speech, freedom to peacefully assemble, who’s running a daycare now?  Tying the two together, of course if the story depicting what the Oklahoma student said/did is to be taken at face value he deserves to be the laughing stock of stupid protests by ignorant teens and 20 something’s who have a lot to learn, but you can’t take it at face value because, if Piper was remarking solely on that incident his references to political revenge, interpersonal reconciliation versus fomenting personal conflict don’t add up. Seeing as he’s the one stirring beyond personal conflict, but potentially institution wide conflict with his words, his handling of one student’s reaction to a chapel service; there is nothing political or revenge oriented about what his student said, complained regarding, nothing any of the students alluded to, were staging assemblies over. And if he is enfolding the broader context of current protests calling the University of Missouri by name a place where you will be enabled not confronted, tone being please do go there and not here, what could he possibly know about racism, sexism, sexual assault being, as a matter of tangible fact, an older, white, male benefiting from class privilege, penis privilege and coming of age, coming into his own, forging his career when things were far easier economically and otherwise for a person to make their way, make their mark? Rendering his allusion to Martin Luther King all the more insulting amidst documented, eye witness accounted instances of blatant racism where the undergraduate student body president was called the n-word, a white student climbed onto a stage and shouted slurs as a black group rehearsed a skit, and more recently a swastika was drawn on a wall with human feces, shortly after the UM presidents’ resignations violent threats were made against minority students instilling fright to come to class accentuated by national headlined unhinged, racist and misogynist mass shooters. Evidence the racially motivated threats, intimidation and interference with other’s rights and freedoms needed to be confronted not the students who wanted to put a stop to it; nor is managing legitimate student problems enabling. Looking closely both Piper and the UM administration want, wanted the universities they run to be daycare’s alright, for them, a place for them to hide behind their position, their authority and not be called upon to handle anything. Not unlike the Yale house master who blasted students as spoiled brats for demanding her resignation after she e-mailed en-mass students living under her guidance denigrating a dean drafted, faculty singed and circulated letter reminding students of the campus’ expectations in good taste and standards connected to Halloween costumes admonishing those who didn’t want to, shouldn’t have to be  racially trolled on Halloween to buck up; then, expected to be protected from the consequences of her freedom of expression when students rightfully said she was unfit to perform the duties she was hired to execute. Unsurprisingly said house master has a pattern of engaging in such counter protests, her and her husband, salon.com found, pinning a Time op-ed after the dean of Harvard condemned a student circulated flyer inviting people to a final club stating Jews need not apply, “Seriously, no fucking Jews. Coloreds okay,” calling the school a free speech surveillance state a mere 3 years ago in 2012. Returning to Oklahoma Wesleyan and their president’s assertion school is not a safe place but a place of learning that could and sometimes should be uncomfortable, missed broadening his comments beyond his institution to the goings on elsewhere is, there are things students should absolutely be provided  protection from, where schools, even at the colligate level, should be safe spaces; racism, sexism, anti- Semitism and bigotry along with physical violence to their person or sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape certainly qualify. How are students supposed to learn if they constantly, consistently have to fear for their very physical safety particularly because of their race, ethnicity, culture, religion; how are they supposed to develop the kind of maturity Piper and those like him want if they must exercise hyper vigilance to avoid being victims of sexual harassment and rape coupled with the continuous grinding down and degrading of who they are based on previously listed factors? Answer, they can’t, making his letter, the subsequent display and his argument and abject fail on all levels. For the record, not everyone, every adult is behind Piper naming his reaction, “Exactly the same kind of paternalistic shaming we heard from college administrators in the 60s. Apparently this “man of God” isn’t used to being criticized. Self absorbed? Narcissistic? Put on your big boy pants, Piper, and take a look in the mirror.” [Sic] Leaving the next logical question, was the crux of his student’s complaint a challenge to the idea religion’s goal is to make us feel guilty, countering perhaps with the God/Jesus is love argument; is that, could that be the criticism the commenter is referring to? If it is, the student’s problem would seem to stem from religion on campus, religion’s role on campus, religious figures’ on campus’ interpretations of biblical principles,  not  an ability to be mature and grown up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OeHc_7KVpw

http://www.salon.com/2015/11/11/whos_really_demanding_to_be_coddled_on_campus_yale_students_arent_the_spoiled_brats_for_refusing_to_be_racially_trolled_on_halloween/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bDGYerVWCA

Yes we’ve all heard this from another corner of the social fabric, comedians, no longer willing to do college campus gigs, Bill Maher, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Lewis C.K. and more because of just this sort of thing— students who don’t possess a sense of humor, lack logic, fail to see nuance that not every gay joke is denigrating to homosexuals, every black joke harmful to African Americans and humor like education is not always meant to be comfortable, the former meant to be decidedly uncomfortable, that’s what makes it funny. But someone else shared a different view zeroing in on one listed comedian, Chris Rock. Mychal Denzel Smith, whom I often reference for his poignant article on being a thug, his eye opening experience in being propositioned on where to buy drugs owning to he was a male black at a bar and the thought process going into not punching the man out, how he used to live by a different calculus where he wasn’t supposed to live to 18 and 21 wasn’t an option, because being black feels like have nothing, though he has by all standards made it graduated high school, probably college, has a steady prominent job in journalism. Well this time Smith came out swinging once more challenging Rock for getting rich comedically beating up on the lowest black people, thrown every horrible circumstance in life not achieving the respectability other blacks have, not even afforded the basic respect as human beings still being referred to as n-gers, worse by their own people. “Bad blacks” forced into their badness by the long arms of systemic white supremacy and racism and how that shaped their lives into what they are; yet what they were still able to do for their hood of a neighborhood, how their survival mode instincts, tactics made those with obvious potential’s success possible. Instead of acknowledging these realities, ever asking why black survival options are so limited Rock and others are content to get rich engaging in tired, false tropes of respectability politics telling young people to pull up their pants, stop acting like thugs and trade Ebonics, the spoken words of your culture, for the diction of white people to be “successful.” Enter today’s intelligent college student who sees right through the B.S., who is actively trying to engineer a better world where these realities don’t have to be, who hears said jokes and instinctually knows something is wrong, knows it’s not part of the world they want, no wonder such comedians are no longer welcome on college campuses. Bringing us back to the backlash leveled against “hypertensive, meaningless” student protests, perhaps it time to return again to Arthur Chu’s brilliant work on the right’s overreaction to leftist outrage where he flipped several recent instances from magazines like The Atlantic on their head proof positive “this army of Social Justice Stormtroopers [that] has successfully create[d] a stifling Orwellian monoculture” isn’t coming from leftwing students but older, white people, from whatever wing, like Piper who are upset the world doesn’t look like it used to. For Piper’s cohorts rather than himself per say, it’s the fear power is going to someone else, not themselves, whites are no longer the singular ruling class, minorities and other religions have a voice, eloquently depicted in other salon.com offerings discussing Kim Davis. Chu successfully distills our rape and the law trigger warning whine-o wasn’t slapped with a student complaint because of campus sexual politics embracing paranoia but due to untruths spouted about an ongoing sexual harassment claim against a professor. Highlighted, another college professor A-writing a piece entitled ‘My Liberal Students Terrify Me’ and B- doing so under a pseudonym to protect himself but was still the height of paranoid and yet had never been truly attacked by student’s political views continuing to insist the left wingers would be worse than the right, no factual basis given. The problem with Bill Maher’s assessment of Halloween by the lasts new PC rules is, less “That’s why we say ‘trick or treat’ instead of placate and coddle” and more,. the truth Poc-a-hot-ass vs. Pocahontas is offensive to women and Native Americans, and, shouldn’t we be past kicking the crap out of them even more of every chance we get? As is the sexy nurse also offensive to women along the lines of the girl’s police uniform vs. boy’s police uniform; one looking like a standard police person the other complete with skirt making it overtly sexualized. Both perpetuating the underlying rape culture the left isn’t entirely wrong about, but let’s keep calling these simply Halloween costumes as opposed to something that should be in an adult shop next to the popular stereotyped French maids outfit, something you wear to spice up your love life, celebrate Halloween with your husband, lover, committed partner, significant other, go to an adult Halloween party organized by a swingers club or other sexual themed event where everyone participating knows what to expect, including a night with some form of sexual congress between guests. Not something you wear to the office Halloween party, out trick or treating with your kids or a generic public event meant to be kept PG because of the wide ranging guests. Despite Maher’s definition of hobo, as a common caricature of a loafer, do nothing, not homeless person, and the assertion our objection doesn’t make homeless people feel better, it makes us feel better, they have bigger problems and when your life is begging people for food everyday his Halloween. Homelessness isn’t a joke especially in post-2008, post-recession America; and anything that perpetuates that reality instead of his is for the better. Identically his take on the outrage over the Caitlyn Jenner costume centers around did he ask a trans-person, a transitioning person their reaction, probably not; meanwhile we have transgender suicide after transgender suicide and Mr. Maher along with the makers of the costume cutting down their only popular representative. He should remember when Prince harry was called out for wearing a Nazi Uniform to a Halloween party a few years ago; how are his examples any different of things that shouldn’t be acceptable for a reason?  Lastly exemplifying why campus PC demands might not be so demanding after all, everyone at The Atlantic thought it on the verge of insane one college canceled an event allowing students to pet a camel homage to the hump Day camel commercial because it might be offensive to people from the Middle East. In light of  San Bernardino and the potential his snapping, defining moment leading to what he did was precipitated by taunts at work, people making fun of his beard, his faith, socially forcing him to attend a Christmas party regardless of his known faith, is it so farfetched now?  Reasoning with terrorists is impossible, but why are we presenting ourselves as such easy targets through willful cultural ignorance, not exercising any sensitivity?

http://www.salon.com/2014/11/12/chris_rocks_poisonous_legacy_how_to_get_rich_and_exalted_chastising_bad_blacks/

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/11/how_seinfeld_became_a_bad_joke_the_threat_of_a_hyper_vigilant_left_wing_outrage_machine_has_been_greatly_exaggerated/

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CBYGyITXbM

If you want to talk about someone abusing the politically correct culture, taking advantage of new psychology, new attitudes held on long standing issues like addiction, alcoholism, mental illness go after the USC coach who submitted a 31 page narrative complaint lawsuit alleging wrongful termination, seeking 12 million dollars; claiming his alcoholism ‘disability’ is the reason for his firing, which he, according to court records, found out about via e-mail/text messages. Except, independent the classification of alcoholism as a disease and the history of mixed feelings surrounding that distinction, the validity of said distinction, USC didn’t fire Steve Sarkisian for merely discovering he was a recovering alcoholic, a previously unknown fact by the university. It’s not like a fellow employee spotted him at an AA meeting, entering a known AA meeting and ratted him out to his bosses, them saying ok, that’s it, we’re done with you. They strongly suspected he had a problem with alcohol when he showed up to a pep rally slurring his words, using profanity; that was August. Recently, stumbling around, described as impaired, not healthy at both a game and practice resulting in his firing only after they had already sent him to an in house program.  Solidifying the legitimacy of his employment termination, his claim of alcohol disability confirms their suspicion regarding the pep rally incident as opposed to say, a reaction to cold medication or a negative reaction to doctor prescribed medicine for a specific purpose. Further, if their allegations about the practice and the game scenarios finally ending his term with USC are correct, he wasn’t just drunk in public and a photo, video was snapped by a student, fellow employee, tabloid magazine like TMZ, posted online or leaked to the press. He was drunk in public on the job at that game, not once but for the second time, embarrassing his employer likely on T.V. for the second time. Of course they fired him; employers have routinely today chosen not to hire perspective employees based on their Facebook pictures, other internet postings, let go persons arrested, facing charges on any number of misdemeanor to increasingly serious counts. That’s the world we live in; and, if it’s fair to do to young people it’s equally fair for the older generations. Continuing, unlike my staunch condemning of the practice unless it can be proven a doctor, surgeon, EMT or other serious professional was drunk the night before doing surgery, making a diagnosis exc. it shouldn’t matter, you don’t know how old said pictures behavior is, here evidence shows the behavior is recent, relevant to now and negatively impacting his job performance. Hit show The Doctors skeptical panelist absolutely correct, if she showed up to do the show, went on air drunk, she would be fired; contrary to the guest image rehabilitator also featured citing California law classifying alcoholism a disability taking on a different connotation than the federal classification disease, it doesn’t mean you get to screw up so royally and keep your job. By in this case it appears, playing the, ‘the rehab you sent me to isn’t working card’ I want to go to this one, abruptly running off to it, later accusing your employer of wrongdoing for the text/e-mail letting you go, when you only said/did that when you got caught again, a desperate hail marry to keep your job. According to USC’s version of events he initially denied he had an issue with alcohol, not requesting time off for treatment. Keeping in mind chief catalyst behind classifying alcoholism/drug addiction as a disease, along the lines of mental illness, rather than solely a criminal act, was to defer people to treatment in DUI, property damage cases with minimal injuries involving either, have them do less jail time in favor of treatment was to get to the core of the problem. An alternative to sticking someone in a cell for months or years on end, still able to get substance contraband in jail/prison, be exposed to more variety, harder, more addictive substances come out doing the same destructive behavior, engaging in more criminal activity to support a new, ongoing habit. Thought being, going the treatment route you at least have a chance of getting a productive citizen on the other side versus virtually no chance with straight incarceration where substance abuse, addiction are a factor. Not give people a pass for egregious behavior, let them off the hook in facing the consequences for their actions, but to adequately handle the problem. It would be entirely different if he had for example, come in to work one day hung-over, disheveled, otherwise distressed and requested to speak to his boss, come clean about his drinking problem and requested time off to enter a treatment program. Different if he had come to work hung-over, drunk, showing unmistakable signs of substance intoxication, impairment, was spotted by a co-worker and they talked, convincing him to speak with his boss and get into treatment only to have his boss respond by announcing his termination, sending him off only for him to find the alleged termination e-mail. Instead he was likely drunk in public, this time at practice, in front of players, young college students, athletes desperately in need of role models; hesitant Doctors panelist right again noting here is a man who is not an ordinary person, with a national platform guiding young people through a critical time in life adding in the pressure of football, the spotlight therefore representing a liability to the university, parents entrusting their children to him, necessitating his firing. She also has a point in telling audience members, viewers about the professionalism of university HR departments especially attached to sports programs; leaving little doubt they have a series of steps laid out for something like this and they followed them A, B, C, until the last one was, however reluctantly, firing the coach. Alcoholism’s classification as a disease means you get to rebuild your life, have a greater chance of rebuilding your life once you are sober; what Steve Sarkisian needs to do now is obtain then maintain that sobriety, look for another coaching job, maybe another career entirely and put USC behind him except for the lessons it taught him. Not go whining for his job back, asking exorbitant amounts of money because he was fired for his own actions; talk about the need to grow up.

Everett Piper, the UM presidents and Steve Sarkisian living breathing examples it’s time to hold to the same scrutiny both older and younger generations; while the younger generation has spent at minimum the last decade and more under the microscope, older adults have enjoyed a free pass socially having their bad, deplorable, head-scratchingly bizarre behaviors classified under odd news, justifiable responses to brazen young whippersnappers sans respect, manners or decency,  road rage and standard criminal acts.  It’s time to put the accusations of colleges becoming daycares, the infantilization, wussification of America squarely, equally where it belongs, on both sides; more and more stacking up against the older generations too. No, not in going to bat for their little tike convinced they’re special, under the delusion other people are the problem not their child, but lazy at least 40, 50 year old postal workers, hiding, burning and dumping mail instead of delivering it, an 80 year old assaulting a 13 year old with a bowl of urine getting himself arrested, the numerous neighbor and neighborhood disputes resulting in murder, pet deaths, property damage and people terrorizing one another, all over 35. Who is the stand your ground generation again, who are their overwhelming targets? Contrastingly teens, 20 something’s, millennials are getting raked over the coals, having their futures destroyed over mildly incriminating to should be benign photos, video posted on social media, many times without their permission, caught on someone else’s cellphone; people losing out on jobs thanks to web chat interviews where interviewers can see into a person’s bedroom via webcam, judge applicants by the Victoria Secret poster on the wall or an unmade bed, crooked pictures, totally unrelated to the job and none of their business if not for technology. Landing us on collegiate faculty, comedians, schools in general who would rather refer to herculean sized, puritanical rule books than have to make a judgment call whether that’s on a kindergartener’s floor length sun dress with spaghetti straps, a girl wearing t-shirts and jeans to a Christian school with short hair accused of morally wrong androgyny, anyone forgotten the school who suspended an 8 year old who shaved her head in support of her best friend with cancer? Abject fear of confrontation, inability to explain a decision, never mind stick to one moving all the way up to institutions of supposedly higher learning; where students are perfectly willing to fight for their rights, stage protests and genuinely try to make a better world than the one they currently live in, college administrations refuse to tackle serious issues taking place across the country, racism, sexism, anti-Semitism apparently thriving in exactly the places they shouldn’t be among the most well educated and soon to be. Instead throwing up repeated false flags calling attention to the utterly, asinine, ridiculous, borderline insane things students are protesting this week, want protection from this month; seeing student requests, student causes through the colored glasses overwhelmingly of what they think this generation is all about rather than what it truly is, the glasses of how things were ‘when we were growing up,’ stubbornly refusing to recognize largely positive changes occurring in the world, the country spurred by the very students they spend inordinate amounts of time chastising. Bona fide ‘adults’ showing little more acumen in dealing with life situations than sniveling young people characterized as overly large 2 year olds; professional stand-up comics telling sophomoric jokes claiming persecution due to the PC monoculture not it being just plain bad, making obscene amounts of money creating bad puns demonstrating the still present aftermath of ongoing systemic racism causing something serious to be seen as a laughing matter then wonder why college students don’t want to see so much as the back of you. Who needs to hear a come on at this point? Ending with our primary subject Mr. Piper who rather than taking the student aside and explaining to him the facts of a selfless, vs. as selfish life, did exactly what he should have, called the situation out, giving them exactly what they didn’t need, attention.  Decided to make his university the entirely wrong kind of pulpit, joining the ‘adult’ college whine-os comprising the faculty right up there with “My Liberal Students Terrify Me” and Ms. I was targeted for my free speech on a campus whose sexual politics is currently paranoia,  cutting down legitimate, needs addressing, issues elsewhere at the same time. Serving to gain only conservative attention, far from good attention, far from going to solve the problem attention, everyone else smart enough to ignore him.

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