American Greatness publisher Chris Buskirk and contributing editor Seth Leibsohn on Tuesday featured George Mason School of Law professor, F.H. Buckley on their radio show to discuss his recent New York Post column, “How Trump Can End Brainwashing on US Campuses.”
The article is a reflection on this newly released report from the National Association of Scholars (NAS) detailing the growing problem in our universities of the “New Civics”—which amounts to a kind of weaponized Leftism dictated to colleges and universities from on high at the federal bureaucracy from the Department of Education and National Endowment for the Humanities. This so-called “New Civics” turns out to be little more than a crash course in student activism and “community organizing” that eschews any serious or academic teaching of the ins and outs of American constitutional government, and instead focuses on inserting students into the life of active grievance and protest.
In the interview, Seth makes the important point that even more than the need to redress the problems facing our nation as a result of illegal immigration, the United States must come to grips with this massive fact: We are “making aliens of our own citizens.” We are doing this through what now amounts to generations of poor teaching of American history and government. Yet this injustice to ourselves is now augmented by yet another generation of poor teaching in just about every other subject. Adding insult to injury, we appear now to be determined to make it impossible for future generations even to educate themselves out of this trap of coming to hate their own country.
The conversation reminded me of another one between my old mentor, the late and much-lamented, Peter W. Schramm and Prof. Gordon Lloyd of Pepperdine. Ironically, these two immigrants (the first from communist Hungary and the second from England via the West Indies) both ended up in America teaching “the natives” what it means to be an American—and neither the irony nor the tragedy of it was lost on them. This podcast is a great introduction to the problem in America’s colleges and universities and should be kept in mind as you listen to Buckley’s interview and think about the recommendations he lays out in his article. You can listen to it here:
One thing Buckley and the NAS report notice about the uniformity with which America’s colleges and universities have adopted these “New Civics” courses is that they are very clearly motivated by and reacting to the fact that there is money in it for them from the federal government if they do comply—and if they don’t, there are likely penalties. Buckley suggests, “Maybe that is the way back? Turning off one faucet and turning on another faucet.”
In other words, given near political impossibility of the current conservative fantasy of eliminating all federal funding of education, why not simply re-direct that funding by turning it away from programs like these that do harm and, instead, incentivizing programs that may do some civic good? Purists and self-professed conservative “gentlemen” may object and insist that we adhere to “Marquess of Queensbury Rules“—the kind that keep patriots prostrate on the floor as our opponents weaponize our good natures and exaggerated scruples. But those who, like Buckley (and some of us here at AG), have come to the conclusion that conservatism can use a few “ruffians” who know that turning public opinion requires moving on from a tired conversation (and requiring the Left to live with new rules they’ve created—for once, on the flip side) are arriving at a different view.
In the Ruffians v. Gentlemen fight among conservatives, perhaps the “Gentlemen” would do well to ask themselves if the Left is ever going to change its mind about the propriety of the old rules if they aren’t forced to suffer the consequences of their having removed them. And perhaps, in a way that is almost as ironic as two immigrants teaching American natives what it means to be American, there is more wisdom in an unconventional approach like this than one might imagine at first blush.
Do take the time to listen to the whole interview with Buckley here:
https://soundcloud.com/thesethandchrisshow/the-seth-and-chris-show-january-10-2017-h2