D-Squared Asks, Illiberal Excess? (Second Session)
The fight against racism and other bases of discrimination is certainly justified. Considerable progress has been made although, assuredly, much remains to be done. That said, there are good reasons for asking if the liberal proponents of change may not, in some ways, have gone too far. Do left/liberal positions and actions at times over-reach, either by reasonable ethical/intellectual standards, or in pragmatic terms, by alienating people we’d like to win over to our side? To be successful, must this movement be purged of “illiberal excess?” This will be the topic of May’s D-Squared event.
Last month’s discussion of this topic addressed the culture wars, political correctness, marginalized groups/social identities, and racism. Picking up where we left off, this month we’ll be talking about threats to free speech, violations of social norms, cognitive aspects of political correctness, the challenge of identifying legitimate offenses, the role of the Internet and social media, cancel culture, being “woke,” the limits of liberalism, and political implications, before speculating on where this will all end.
To facilitate a thoughtful, informed discussion, it is suggested that participants read/view some or all of the following in preparing for this event:
The “Culture Wars,” Past and Present
https://theweek.com/articles/971303/gops-culture-war-gambit-blow-face?utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20210312&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter&utm_medium=email
“Political Correctness” Revisited
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/01/not-a-very-pc-thing-to-say.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/30/magazine/bill-maher-interview.html
It’s All About Race!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/not-all-anti-racist-ideas-are-good-ones-the-left-isnt-being-honest-about-this/2021/02/22/c83d4870-7179-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F303600d%2F603bc7959d2fda4c88f66278%2F596d4a689bbc0f067a71f881%2F51%2F68%2F603bc7959d2fda4c88f66278
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/opinion/smith-college-race-class.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20210302&instance_id=27634&nl=opinion-today®i_id=59247550&segment_id=52608&te=1&user_id=d02d6d021df87a04ebb8f163e4699eb3
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/opinion/californias-ethnic-studies.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20210310&instance_id=27906&nl=opinion-today®i_id=59247550&segment_id=53129&te=1&user_id=d02d6d021df87a04ebb8f163e4699eb3
Revenge of the Woke: Cancel Culture
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/16/why-we-should-cancel-phrase-cancel-culture/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_opinions&utm_campaign=wp_opinions
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/opinion/the-argument-cancel-culture-media.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20210325&instance_id=28395&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=59247550&segment_id=54146&user_id=d02d6d021df87a04ebb8f163e4699eb3
Assuredly there are many more online articles and videos pertinent to our topic. So, if you are aware of other resources that would enlighten us, feel free to suggest them by posting links in the “Comments” section that follows.
The following link will connect you to the discussion questions that we’ll be using: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CT1eUKK5Wnva8oU9Prjuh4nrkhBsyjND/edit
D-Squared (Discussion & Debate) is a monthly cyberspace gathering hosted by Jerry Smith and Mark Thosen. Jerry will moderate this month’s discussion. Please RSVP if you plan on participating.
This event is sponsored by HumanistsMN. If you are not already a member, please consider joining by clicking on Join at humanistsmn.org.
https://www.meetup.com/humanism-166/events/277777535/
