Columbia, Yale, and NYU are nothing compared to the violence and radicalism that the medieval University of Frankfurt reached in the 1500s.
Violence and chaos had become a major problem at nearly all universities across central Europe– especially the German ones– ever since Martin Luther had famously published his Ninety-Five Theses in the year 1517.
Practically overnight, life in Europe had become extremely divisive. People lost the ability to disagree with each other rationally or to discuss ideas with an open mind. And universities became ground zero for intellectual oppression.
Professors led the charge to stir conflict on campus and divide students into warring tribes. Ravenous mobs bullied ideological opponents and labeled them ‘traitors to the cause’. Violence, coercion, and intimidation soon became commonplace.
Students in the 1500s attacked vendors who sold books and pamphlets that espoused ideas they disagreed with. Teachers and pupils alike were attacked for wrongthink. Even local townspeople were victims to the violence and property damage. Yet university administrators seldom did anything about it.
In 1572, the town physician in Frankfurt complained that his clinic had been filled with too many victims of assault at the hands of local students. Yet, he stated, “the gentlemen at the university allow this to go on unpunished.”
Town officials set up cannons to protect their citizens from angry university students who were bent on waging ideological violence.
It wasn’t until 1578 that an obscure professor named Caspar Hofmann had the courage to speak up.
Hofmann was a professor of medicine and philosophy in Frankfurt… so he most likely had witnessed a tremendous amount of violence and perhaps even been victim of it himself.
He gave a public speech– a daring thing to do under the circumstances– in which he said:
“They defend their own opinions with the greatest fierceness and attack all others, seeking to overwhelm all who think differently from themselves with ridicule and shame; hatred and envy, malice and evil-speaking, slander and calumny are the results of such envenomed strife, and it is inevitable that the learned institutes should be corrupted by all these influences.”
Though Hofmann’s comments were made well over four centuries ago, they could just as easily describe the state of western universities today. Ridicule. Shame. Hatred. Malice. Slander.
And let’s not forget about the violence prevalent in both eras.
Today is not the first time that universities have descended into intolerance and assault. Nor is it the first time that hapless, out of touch university administrators refuse to do anything about it.
In fairness, we’re talking about a small percentage of students and universities. But it’s enough that it has become a major problem.
Just like prison long ago became a finishing school for criminals, universities are becoming training grounds for coercive activism.
Students show up and become radicalized. Rather than study science, engineering, or business, they learn how to mobilize flash mobs, doxx their opponents, hijack and deface private property, create propaganda, engage in censorship, and intimidate innocent people.
And they’re gaining real world experience in how to use fear and intimidation to capture headlines and broadcast their message.
Does this sound familiar? It does to me. I spent a good chunk of my career as an Army intelligence officer studying terrorist organizations and how they train their foot soldiers.
And, not to be dramatic, but what’s happening at some of these universities now is similar to what goes on at terrorist training camps.
Another similarity: terrorists are completely ignorant and understand very little about their cause. It takes a real intellectual dolt to blow oneself up.
I think about this whenever I hear these students chanting, “from the river to the sea”; how many of these Inspired Idiots can even name the river or sea? Probably not too many.
But such are the consequences of these universities’ woke admissions policies. Instead of accepting the best candidates based purely on merit and potential, they have selected students who espouse their extreme leftist ideology.
Stanford University famously admitted a student who, in response to an admissions essay question, “What matters to you, and why”, wrote “#BlackLivesMatter” 100 times.
In its acceptance letter, the university praised the student for his passion and inspiration and said, “you are, quite simply, a fantastic match with Stanford.” He went to Yale instead.
In many respects, it’s been the same trend across many of Americas biggest cities; voters chose elected officials who espouse their extreme leftist ideology. And just like the universities, the big cities have suffered the consequences.
The bright side is that this might actually be rock bottom… because we are starting to see a number of self-correcting mechanisms kick in.
Wealthy donors who fund these universities are withholding money until administrators clean house. Heads are starting to roll.
And, as more voters become fed up with brazen crime sprees in their neighborhoods, leftist politicians are starting to take action. Even the Governor of New York recently made it a crime to assault a retail shop worker. What a novel idea!
Businesses too are starting to retreat from their holy mountains of wokeness. Google, the company whose AI refused to depict white people, has also had enough. It recently not only fired dozens of employees who protested for Gaza at work, but also had some of them arrested.
Even the high priest of the World Economic Forum, Blackrock Chairman Larry Fink, has walked back his environmental fanaticism and demands to to block oil investments, and started working towards retirement solutions— an actual problem that desperately needs fixing.
And just yesterday, the First Minister of Scotland resigned, after his recent racist tirade against white people, because he knew he was going to fail a no confidence vote.
We’re starting to see a trend forming— some of the world’s silliest leaders are beginning to lose their grip on power.
Does that mean there is the potential that sensible politicians will be elected and prioritize what’s in the best interest of the nation? Could we actually see them cut deficits, boost productivity, and make sound decisions?
Perhaps. One can hope this trend continues.
But regardless, it will be a long, long road ahead. And even under the best circumstances, it still makes sense to have a Plan B.
