The author, a parent and husband of a clinical child psychologist, discusses "punishment envy" - where parents are perceived as treating children unfairly. The author then extends this concept to institutions such as universities and law firms that punish individuals for their speech on political controversies, particularly in the context of the 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel and its aftermath. Since October 7, 2023, there have been numerous instances of institutional punishment, including suspensions, investigations, and firings. The author questions whether institutions should become involved in addressing political controversies and condemning offensive speech that doesn't violate the law.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-25,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
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?
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you → punish → it
Why does she get to do things I wasn’t allowed to do?
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I → get → things
It’s not fair.
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It → ’ → ?
You love her more.
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You → love → her
You treat him better because he’s a boy.
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he → treat → him
“It sure would be helpful,” I sometimes proclaim, “to have a clinical child psychologist to deal with this situation.”
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I → proclaim → situation
I say this to my wife the clinical child psychologist, who does not tend to react with an attitude of solace.
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who → say → solace
Why did I treat this kid differently for sneaking out than that kid?
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I → treat → kid
From that kid’s perspective it’s rank discrimination.
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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?”
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me → catch → sup
You lift the blinds and go under them, for Christ’s sake.
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You → lift → sake
And don’t get me started on the cameras.
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me → get → cameras
What is your strategy, exactly, in tiptoeing like a cartoon burglar past a security camera?
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strategy → tiptoe → camera
Do you think it’s sound-activated?
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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?
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you → expect → camera
I feel disrespected by the lack of OpSec is what I’m saying, I guess.
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I → feel → what
I may have strayed from my point, which is about punishment envy.
uncertain
which → stray → envy
Institutions, like parents, punish.
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Institutions → punish → parents
Sometimes they punish speech.
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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.
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Punishment → take → speech
Perceived disparities in these punishments lead to tumult.
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disparities → lead → tumult
Punishing leads to demands for more punishment.
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Punishing → punish → punishment
We’ve been seeing a storm of institutional punishments since the Hamas attacks on Israel of October 7, 2023.
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We → see → October
They’ve multiplied in the wake of Israel’s military response against Gaza.
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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.
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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.
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firms → withdraw → issue
Some of that is clearly censorship, and you could call it “cancel culture” by a reasonable definition.
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you → call → definition
But that’s not my point.
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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?
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universities → revive → controversies
Should they get involved in condemning offensive speech that doesn’t rise to the level of a violation of law?
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that → involve → law
Will getting involved in that advance their missions, or impede them?
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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:
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universities → issue → politics
It is, to go back once again to the classic phrase, a community of scholars.
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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.
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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.
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it → embrace → community
The bitter disputes over Israel have revived this argument.
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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.
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universities → argue → faculty
It’s easy to see why.
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It → ’ → ?
University engagement in the Israel-Gaza debate has led to widespread recrimination and condemnation.
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engagement → lead → recrimination
…and 48 more, not listed.
