Every parent of multiple kids knows about punishment envy.
asserted
parent → know → envy
You punished me for doing that, why aren’t you punishing him for it?
asserted
you → punish → it
Why does she get to do things I wasn’t allowed to do?
asserted
I → get → things
It’s not fair.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
You love her more.
asserted
You → love → her
You treat him better because he’s a boy.
asserted
he → treat → him
“It sure would be helpful,” I sometimes proclaim, “to have a clinical child psychologist to deal with this situation.”
asserted
I → proclaim → situation
I say this to my wife the clinical child psychologist, who does not tend to react with an attitude of solace.
asserted
who → say → solace
Why did I treat this kid differently for sneaking out than that kid?
asserted
I → treat → kid
From that kid’s perspective it’s rank discrimination.
asserted
it → ’ → perspective
From my perspective I caught that kid, covered in scratches from the hedge outside their window, making a deafening racket climbing through the wooden blinds, to find me sitting in their desk chair doomscrolling Facebook, saying “‘sup?”
asserted
me → catch → sup
You lift the blinds and go under them, for Christ’s sake.
asserted
You → lift → sake
And don’t get me started on the cameras.
asserted
me → get → cameras
What is your strategy, exactly, in tiptoeing like a cartoon burglar past a security camera?
asserted
strategy → tiptoe → camera
Do you think it’s sound-activated?
asserted
it → think → ?
What did you expect to happen when you engaged in a prolonged examination of the camera to adjust its field of view while on camera?
asserted
you → expect → camera
I feel disrespected by the lack of OpSec is what I’m saying, I guess.
asserted
I → feel → what
I may have strayed from my point, which is about punishment envy.
uncertain
which → stray → envy
Institutions, like parents, punish.
asserted
Institutions → punish → parents
Sometimes they punish speech.
asserted
they → punish → speech
Punishment can be take the form of actual official censorship, like suspending or firing someone for their speech, or the form of harsh criticism, like issuing a statement condemning someone’s speech.
asserted
Punishment → take → speech
Perceived disparities in these punishments lead to tumult.
asserted
disparities → lead → tumult
Punishing leads to demands for more punishment.
asserted
Punishing → punish → punishment
We’ve been seeing a storm of institutional punishments since the Hamas attacks on Israel of October 7, 2023.
asserted
We → see → October
They’ve multiplied in the wake of Israel’s military response against Gaza.
asserted
They → multiply → Gaza
We’ve seen some universities suspend and investigate professors for heated outbursts about the war, some ban Students for Justice in Palestine, and some issue issue statements implying — or sometimes outright claiming — that certain student or professor speech about the war is bigoted.
asserted
speech → see → war
Law firms have withdrawn offers to law students over their speech about the war and fired associates for criticizing the firms’ approach to the issue.
asserted
firms → withdraw → issue
Some of that is clearly censorship, and you could call it “cancel culture” by a reasonable definition.
uncertain
you → call → definition
But that’s not my point.
asserted
that → ’ → ?
My point is that the war has revived an old debate — should universities and other nominally non-political institutions get involved in addressing political controversies at all?
asserted
universities → revive → controversies
Should they get involved in condemning offensive speech that doesn’t rise to the level of a violation of law?
asserted
that → involve → law
Will getting involved in that advance their missions, or impede them?
asserted
involved → involve → them
In 1967, the Kalven Commission at the University of Chicago issued a report and recommendation saying that universities should avoid getting involved in politics:
asserted
universities → issue → politics
It is, to go back once again to the classic phrase, a community of scholars.
asserted
It → go → scholars
To perform its mission in the society, a university must sustain an extraordinary environment of freedom of inquiry and maintain an independence from political fashions, passions, and pressures.
asserted
university → perform → fashions
A university, if it is to be true to its faith in intellectual inquiry, must embrace, be hospitable to, and encourage the widest diversity of views within its own community.
asserted
it → embrace → community
The bitter disputes over Israel have revived this argument.
asserted
disputes → revive → argument
Numerous commentators have argued that universities should adopt the Kalven policy of staying out of political discourse, leaving that for their faculty and students.
asserted
universities → argue → faculty
It’s easy to see why.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
University engagement in the Israel-Gaza debate has led to widespread recrimination and condemnation.
asserted
engagement → lead → recrimination
…and 48 more, not listed.
The Aporia
