Marxist Professors Are Gift to Climate Skeptics: Kevin Hassett
Eric Gisin
Commentary by Kevin Hassett
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The revelation that climate scientists at the University of East Anglia
manipulated data and conspired to corrupt the peer-review process has been very bad news for those
hoping to enact laws to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
A December poll by CBS News and the New York Times found that only 37 percent of Americans now
think global warming is a very serious problem and should be one of the highest priorities for
government leaders, a whopping 15 percentage point drop since 2007. While the poll report
attributes the drop to the economic decline during the intervening two years, it's safe to assume
the scandal known as Climategate contributed to the change in public perception.
Such statistics surely are frustrating for climate scientists. The vast majority of them assert
that the stolen e- mails did nothing to upend the balance of the literature, which still tilts
heavily toward a consensus that warming is a big, man-made problem.
The public's skepticism toward the scientists is part of a bigger problem, one that threatens the
fabric of our culture. Academe has been so politicized, and so radically disconnected from the
population, that ordinary citizens no longer trust anything that it produces -- even science.
The sad fact is that explicit or implicit political litmus tests are far more important than
science at universities and so-called peer-reviewed journals. Universities may pay lip service to
"diversity," but diversity of thought is taboo.
Damning Survey
A 2007 survey of more than 1,400 professors by sociologists Neil Gross of Harvard University and
Solon Simmons of George Mason University is as damning an indictment of an organization as you are
ever likely to see.
The authors compiled the political affiliation and beliefs of the professors, who were asked to
identify themselves along a spectrum from very liberal to very conservative. Across all fields, 44
percent identified themselves as liberal or very liberal, while 9.2 percent identified themselves
as conservative or very conservative.
Strikingly, the data were even more tilted in the physical and biological sciences. There, 45.2
percent of professors identified themselves as liberal, while only 8 percent said they were
conservative.
The authors dug deeper than many previous studies and established some startling findings.
In the social sciences, 24 percent of professors identified themselves as liberal "radicals" and 18
percent as Marxists. Only 4.9 percent of social scientists identified themselves as "conservative."
Marxists Everywhere
So there are almost five times as many self-identified liberal radicals on our faculties, and more
than three times as many Marxists as there are conservatives. Last I checked, Marxism has been
utterly discredited. Yet there are still Marxists everywhere, poisoning the minds of our children.
Conservatives, on the other hand, are a rarity.
While there isn't enough data to address the question, it is safe to assume that no other
profession is so tilted. In a society about evenly split between liberals and conservatives,
achieving such a bias requires serious effort. It doesn't happen by accident.
If you want to run conservatives out, you need to discourage dissertations that might reach
conservative conclusions. You need to shun young students if their work questions liberal
orthodoxy. You need to control the academic journals, rejecting papers submitted by identifiable
conservatives.
Political Bias
You need to celebrate work that supports the political bias of Democrats. If your research shows
that higher minimum wages are terrific, an endowed chair is yours for the taking. Question whether
a higher minimum wage might cause higher unemployment, and find your place on the bread line.
For years, I have watched the economic community act this way. The hacked East Anglia e-mails
confirm that exactly this type of conspiracy is in place. They show climate experts plotting how to
keep the lid on research that didn't support the prevailing view on global warming. In one e-mail,
Michael Mann of Penn State University proposed boycotting an academic journal because it had
published an article that provided evidence contrary to global warming canon.
Small wonder that our academic system can no longer claim the authority necessary to drive policy.
The distrust that the academic community has rightly earned is devastating for society. We have
lost the only institution that could deliver the widely acknowledged facts upon which rational
policy could be based.
Fire Political Professors
If Americans can no longer trust anything, even science, then it is time for radical reform,
starting with the elimination of tenure. When professors abandon science and take up politics, ask
them to leave.
Second, universities and journals should engage in informal affirmative action for conservatives.
While it is hard to say exactly how many conservatives it might take to ease concerns of bias, a
safe place to start might be to make sure you have more conservatives than Marxists.
Finally, the spirit of open debate should be assiduously enforced, even on issues such as climate.
Universities should teach students how to think, not what to believe. Debate is a necessary part of
that process.
Such reforms are, of course, unlikely. So you can bet that policies will continue to fail if they
rely on faith in science.
(Kevin Hassett, director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, is a
Bloomberg News columnist. He was an adviser to Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona in the
2008 presidential election. The opinions expressed are his own.)
Ouroboros Rex
> http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=amjn_0feDpcM
>
> Commentary by Kevin Hassett
>
> Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The revelation that climate scientists at the
> University of East Anglia manipulated data and conspired to corrupt
> the peer-review process
Lie.
tunderbar
Hey arsehole, what university do you work at again?
Fred Williams
> Fire Political Professors
>
> If Americans can no longer trust anything, even science, then it is time
> for radical reform, starting with the elimination of tenure. When
> professors abandon science and take up politics, ask them to leave.
>
So becoming a professor means you may have no political opinions? Or is it
that people on the left are not allowed to have political opinions?
I fact wasn't it Pol Pot who tried to kill off the educated people.
> Second, universities and journals should engage in informal affirmative
> action for conservatives.
Right. They should only hire Nazis I suppose, and from the "better
families," no doubt.
What you need to think about is why the more educated people all turn to
the left, and why the socialist governments all make a big deal out of
educating their masses, while educational standards are so low in the U.S.
and far too many people believe that Evolution is fiction. Uneducated
people are far easier to control.
--
Regards,
Fred
(remove FFFf from my email address to reply by email)
Fred Williams
Trying to intimidate the truth tellers. That's an escalation of aggression
on Usenet. Times must be getting tough as the economy fails.
Marvin the Martian
> Eric Gisin wrote:
>
>
>> Fire Political Professors
>>
>> If Americans can no longer trust anything, even science, then it is
>> time for radical reform, starting with the elimination of tenure. When
>> professors abandon science and take up politics, ask them to leave.
>>
> So becoming a professor means you may have no political
opinions?
In science, a professor's political opinions shouldn't ever be known.
> Or
> is it
> that people on the left are not allowed to have political opinions?
Since the universities were purged of people on the right, this question
is funny. Yes, if the left's idea of opinions is to purge all right wing
thought, then they've lost the right to have an opinion. Your right to
swing your fist ends at my nose, and all that.
> I fact wasn't it Pol Pot who tried to kill off the educated
people.
Yes he did. Seems he was just another genocidal leftist.
>> Second, universities and journals should engage in informal affirmative
>> action for conservatives.
>
> Right. They should only hire Nazis I suppose, and from the
"better
> families," no doubt.
Nazis killed 6 million. Leftist killed 83 million. You do the math!
But your comment is a silly fallacy, unless like most leftist you think
that "Nazi" means "anyone who is opposed to Marxism".
>
> What you need to think about is why the more educated people all
turn
> to
> the left,
60 years ago, before we allowed communist into universities as professors
in the name of "debate", the argument could have been made "why the more
educated people all turn to the right".
This argument fails. The reason being that the leftist use the
universities as indoctrination centers, and don't graduate students who
are openly of the right wing.
> and why the socialist governments all make a big deal out of
> educating their masses,
Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin all ran education centers. You either learned the
party line, or you got a bullet in the back of the head.
Government controlled education is a wonder tool for political
indoctrination.
>while educational standards are so low in the
> U.S. and far too many people believe that Evolution is fiction.
Creationism is fiction. However, the Christians aren't using it to make a
slave out of us, like the communist are with their Anthropogenic global
warming fraud.
> Uneducated people are far easier to control.
And if you DON'T understand thermo, and you DON'T understand equilibrium
constants, and you DON'T understand simple logic, then you're sure to
fall for appeals to authority and commie junk science.
Derek Gee
news:hhg0s...@news2.newsguy.com...
Truth! Dr. Mann lied when he cherry picked the data to create the infamous
"Hockey Stick" graph, and he only got caught when the US Congress subpoenaed
his data. This same bunch lied again when dealing with the Arctic data
(only using 25% of it), and they lied when they applied their self-described
"trick" to hide the decline in global temperatures.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/17/russian_data_cherrypicked_says_sceptic/
Why? Follow the money! All these scientists live off grants and many have
financial interests in carbon trading exchanges (e.g. Al Gore).
D
Catoni
Are you kidding ? The far left has been working to get in the schools
and universities since the 1920'/30's. It's no secret that in order to
"build socialism" you need to get hold of the education system and get
the kids when they're young.
"Dear Leader's" North Korea. Lenin and Stalin's Soviet Union.
Communist China.
The nazis/fascists were well aware of this as well. Just look at
Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. The education system uinder
total control to brainwash the students.
Look at the Islamic totalitarian theocracy in Iran. Religious
totalitarians do the same as the communists and fascists.....
brainwash the kids in school, and infiltrate and control the media
It's one of the prime tools of the totalitarian way of control. If
you can get the media and the schools, you can brainwash and control
the thinking of the majority of the ordinary people..
Any totalitarian system or group that tries to build a totalitarian
society has certain targets to first get control of.
One is the media..... the other is the education system.
Pete The Upstart
Roger the Saurus
news:348656b1-b421-4204...@k17g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
> What the hell does any of this have to do with the Marx Brothers? P
Don't you just love cross-posters? We may have trouble getting rid of some
of this mob. This means war!
--
Roger the Saurus
(remove bollix to reply)
Frank J. Lhota
> What the hell does any of this have to do with the Marx Brothers? P
The only link is that the Marx brothers and Karl Marx have the same last
name. The thread deals with Marxism (the unfunny kind), and the OP
clearly thought that since this group had "Marx" in the name, it must
have something to do with Marxism.
This is not the first time this has happened. One wonders why these
posters don't take notice of the "bros" part of the group name. IFAICT
Karl was never part of a brothers act, although this may have
contributed to the confusion:
--
"All things extant in this world,
Gods of Heaven, gods of Earth,
Let everything be as it should be;
Thus shall it be!"
- Magical chant from "Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi"
"Drizzle, Drazzle, Drozzle, Drome,
Time for this one to come home!"
- Mr. Wizard from "Tooter Turtle"
Fred Williams
> On Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:52:21 -0400, Fred Williams wrote:
>
>> Eric Gisin wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Fire Political Professors
>>>
>>> If Americans can no longer trust anything, even science, then it is
>>> time for radical reform, starting with the elimination of tenure. When
>>> professors abandon science and take up politics, ask them to leave.
>>>
>> So becoming a professor means you may have no political
> opinions?
>
> In science, a professor's political opinions shouldn't ever be known.
>
Freedom of thought and speech are what you're supposed to be supporting.
>> Or
>> is it
>> that people on the left are not allowed to have political opinions?
>
> Since the universities were purged of people on the right,
Never happened.
>> I fact wasn't it Pol Pot who tried to kill off the educated
> people.
>
> Yes he did. Seems he was just another genocidal leftist.
>
But you're advocating the same thing here, just removing them instead of
killing them. It's only a matter of degree.
>>> Second, universities and journals should engage in informal affirmative
>>> action for conservatives.
>>
>> Right. They should only hire Nazis I suppose, and from the
> "better
>> families," no doubt.
>
> Nazis killed 6 million. Leftist killed 83 million. You do the math!
The Nazis killed 6 million *Jews.* They also killed 7 million non-Jews for
a total of 13 million. The leftists killed no where near that many... But
Dubyuh managed over a million in Iraq and probably a lesser number in
Afghanistan. Obama continues the tradition.
Try reading about real history for a change instead of trying to rewrite it
to suit Washington.
Fred Williams
> On Dec 30, 12:52 pm, Fred Williams <f...@frewilliams.FFFfca> wrote:
>> Eric Gisin wrote:
>> > Fire Political Professors
>>
>> > If Americans can no longer trust anything, even science, then it is
>> > time for radical reform, starting with the elimination of tenure. When
>> > professors abandon science and take up politics, ask them to leave.
>>
>> So becoming a professor means you may have no political opinions? Or is
>> it that people on the left are not allowed to have political opinions?
>> I fact wasn't it Pol Pot who tried to kill off the educated people.
>>
>> > Second, universities and journals should engage in informal affirmative
>> > action for conservatives.
>>
>> Right. They should only hire Nazis I suppose, and from the "better
>> families," no doubt.
>>
>> What you need to think about is why the more educated people all turn to
>> the left, and why the socialist governments all make a big deal out of
>> educating their masses, while educational standards are so low in the
>> U.S. and far too many people believe that Evolution is fiction.
>> Uneducated people are far easier to control.
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Fred
>> (remove FFFf from my email address to reply by email)
>
> Are you kidding ?
No.
> The far left has been working to get in the schools
> and universities since the 1920'/30's. It's no secret that in order to
> "build socialism" you need to get hold of the education system and get
> the kids when they're young.
In order to do any education or brainwashing that is true. But you have to
notice also that the more educated people are, the more they lean to the
left.
> "Dear Leader's" North Korea. Lenin and Stalin's Soviet Union.
> Communist China.
These are widely differing systems. There's a lot of difference between
Stalin, who was actually right wing and betrayed the revolution, and Mao,
for instance.
> The nazis/fascists were well aware of this as well. Just look at
> Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. The education system uinder
> total control to brainwash the students.
But they were right wing.
> Look at the Islamic totalitarian theocracy in Iran.
I strongly urge the separation of church and state, even in the U.S.
> Religious
> totalitarians do the same as the communists and fascists.....
> brainwash the kids in school, and infiltrate and control the media
> It's one of the prime tools of the totalitarian way of control. If
> you can get the media and the schools, you can brainwash and control
> the thinking of the majority of the ordinary people..
That much is true. It is also true of teaching the truth. People learn
faster when they are young. Getting children when they are young is a
simple fact of education whether you are teaching lies or truth. So it
doesn't mean that you are teaching lies simply because you're teaching
children.
And taking control of education is what all governments do. Leftist
governments, like Cuba, have higher literacy rates and greater access to
education. They are actually far more democratic when it comes to education
than the U.S. where the vast majority of college students have to come from
rich families.
>
> Any totalitarian system or group that tries to build a totalitarian
> society has certain targets to first get control of.
> One is the media..... the other is the education system.
And they call for all opposing views to be eliminated from the educational
system, which is exactly what you're doing in this thread.
Pete The Upstart
<roger...@bollix.btinternet.com> wrote:
> "Pete The Upstart" <peterch...@hotmail.com> wrote in messagenews:348656b1-b421-4204...@k17g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
>
> > What the hell does any of this have to do with the Marx Brothers? P
>
> Don't you just love cross-posters? We may have trouble getting rid of some
> of this mob. This means war!
> --
> Roger the Saurus
> (remove bollix to reply)
Roger you got something there & I'll wait outside until you clean it
up......
Then it's WAR! Gather the forces! And all the horses! ......etc. etc.
Pete The Upstart
You think the "comedy" part of the newsgroup's name would have given
it away.....
tunderbar
Let the purging of the intelligencia begin.
Roger the Saurus
I don't believethe word "think" applies to these people
I M @ good guy
The tip of the iceberg you don't see;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809656,00.html
http://www.atimes.com/koreas/CE23Dg02.html
Pete The Upstart
<roger...@bollix.btinternet.com> wrote:
> "Pete The Upstart" <peterch...@hotmail.com> wrote in messagenews:fd7ed791-7dbf-4c6a...@v25g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...
I don't care what they have to say.
It makes no difference anyway.
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
No matter what it is or who commenced it.
I'm against it.......