When in the course of human events an ideology arises that turns the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) into an intellectual cesspool overflowing with neo-Marxist sloganeers empowering bloated administrative bureaucracies to substitute identity group struggle for class struggle, thereafter advancing mediocrities based on the color of their skin, their “declared” gender, or their preference for deviant sex, who really cares? These people produce none of the material benefits of civilization.
But when that ideology infects Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) the consequences can be dire. Electrical grids go down. Planes fall from the sky. Bridges collapse. Supply chains fold. Doctors start killing people. Warning signs are appearing everywhere telling us that these and other calamities lie ahead if we don’t change our ways.
October 7th sounded a wake-up call when the toxic culture of our elite universities exploded for all to see. It will be remembered as a Sputnik moment. Former supporters of supposedly well-meaning programs claiming to correct for historical wrongs were suddenly made aware that they had paid the barbarians at the gates to storm the citadel.
It’s too late to save our elite liberal arts universities. They should be encouraged to continue the self-inflicted destruction of their own brands. This will reduce, and ultimately eliminate, their power to anoint society’s supposed experts and elites. Meanwhile, we should stop hiring their graduates.
But we must save STEM.
A failure to purge STEM institutions of the Woke Mind Virus, spread by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, will be fatal to society. The primacy of facts and reason must be vigorously asserted. Other ways of knowing contrary to the scientific method must be eliminated. Meritocratic selection and the advancement of high-performance individuals capable of contributing to STEM fields must be restored. Grifters and incompetents must be driven out.
It’s one thing to poke fun at SHASS-ist phonies and their parade of inanities, a sport that the Beaver hopes you all enjoy. But sometimes even a scurrilous satirist has to clear his throat and utter something serious.
Failure is not an option.