Posted on 03/17/2015 4:05:12 AM PDT by servo1969
Two weeks ago, a group of students at the University of California at Irvine removed a U.S. flag from a common area of the student-government suite.
Shortly afterwards, six undergraduate members of the Legislative Council of the Associated Students of UCI (ASUCI) passed a resolution banning the display of the flags of any nation in the office lobby. The resolution was authored by student Matthew Guevara of the School of Social Ecology.
Among the reasons the legislative council objected to the American flag were:
“The American flag has been flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism.”
“A common ideological understanding of the United States includes American exceptionalism and superiority.”
“Designing a culturally inclusive space is taken seriously by ASUCI.”
“The removal of barriers is the best option at promoting an inclusive space.”
“It is a psychological effect for individuals to identify negative aspects of a space rather than positive ones.”
“Freedom of speech, in a space that aims to be as inclusive as possible can be interpreted as hate speech.”
Two days later a higher-ranking student panel, the executive cabinet of ASUCI, vetoed the ban. But the issue did not end there.
The hostility that the original legislative council vote engendered — including, reportedly, death threats — was used by over 1,000 students and dozens of professors as a reason to sign a petition supporting the original ban on the flag. In the words of the petition:
“The resolution recognized that nationalism, including U.S. nationalism, often contributes to racism and xenophobia, and that the paraphernalia of nationalism is in fact often used to intimidate. This is a more or less uncontroversial scholarly point. . . .
“We admire the courage of the resolution’s supporters amid this environment of political immaturity and threat, and support them unequivocally.”
These are the facts. Now to what I believe is the most important question regarding the resolution to ban the flag and the petition on behalf of the resolution: Why were they supported? Here are three reasons:
1. Outside of the natural sciences, math, and a few other departments, our universities are essentially seminaries — teaching what has been the most dynamic religion of the Western world over the past 100 years, Leftism. Every — frequently incoherent — idea expressed by the resolution and the petition represents years of left-wing indoctrination. Respect for the American flag comes naturally; reasons to hold it in contempt have to be learned.
It is not surprising that the author of the resolution is a student at UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology. Visit its website and you will see Leftism in one of its purest forms.
2. The students and the professors see themselves as citizens of the world. Leftism rejects nationalism, and the most nationalistic of the industrialized Western democracies is America. The Left regards nationalism — as symbolized by hanging or waving the American flag — as primitive and ultimately fascistic.
3. Many professors and students are bored. Compared to the past anywhere and compared to the present almost anywhere, life in America is remarkably easy for the vast majority of college students and college professors.
This ease, however, presents them with another problem — a lack of meaning in life. For nearly all people there has never been a problem with finding meaning. Even putting aside religion — humanity’s greatest supplier of meaning — life’s difficulties have always given people meaning: How will I feed myself and my family? How will I provide myself and my family with a home?
But these problems exist for almost no American college student and they do not exist for any American professor. And because so few professors, and increasingly few students, derive meaning from America’s traditional Judeo-Christian religions, meaning must be sought and found elsewhere.
Thus the Left generally and the universities in particular manufacture crises that give the secular middle and upper classes great meaning: Fight American sexism, intolerance, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism, material inequality, capitalism, and nationalism.
That America is in fact the most open, opportunity-giving, and tolerant country in world history is irrelevant to these people. To acknowledge this would be to deprive themselves of the greatest human need after food — meaning and purpose.
These are the reasons they want to ban the American flag. That hundreds of thousands of Americans died for what this flag represents — the American trinity of “Liberty,” “In God We Trust,” and “E Pluribus Unum” — means nothing to these students and professors. Thanks to Leftism, when they see the American flag they see imperialism and bigotry.
Typical Lefty college nonsense.
"We must be inclusive by excluding this group and that group."
"We must fight racism by being racist towards this group and that group."
"We must create safe spaces by being hateful towards this group and that group."
All Communism, all the time. Eliminate all competing ideas in the public square until only the official opinions are allowed.
“student Matthew Guevara of the School of Social Ecology”
All I need to know. Yawn.
Fluffy subject matter = fluffy thinking
Does it mean cleaning up after you have a party?
BTW, State universities should be prevented, by law, from offering worthless degrees. It is a waste of taxpayer money.
First, I’ll say this....at $29,000 a year for tuition/chow/living arrangements....I can say that the vast number of students aren’t there on their own dime. Dad/Mom is likely paying the bulk of the bill. If so....the punk kid shouldn’t have a single say or vote in any matter on campus. Dad/Mom are the ones with a vote, end of story. The punk is just there to learn and get that stupid certificate in four years. They need not worry about any flag stuff, cracks in the pavement, or lack of beer.
Second....if you have issues with flags....fine, take down ALL of the flags (the campus flag, the state flag, and the national flag). Be a flagless place and just say that all flags disturb you in some fashion....then maybe you have some just cause to be hyper on flags alone.
Third and final...you got four lousy years at this campus to get the degree and move on. Life is fairly short. You need to prioritize your business and really focus on the remaining forty-odd years (if lucky) of life you got. Wasting moments of life on some pesky flag? I’d suggest that you really start prioritizing your life and thinking about the big-picture things. These punks are stupid enough that they might get all pesky about NCAA football and vote to remove the college from the NCAA, or stupid enough to vote marijuana legal for use on the campus, or stupid enough to vote rape as a legit act of life.
Imagine the huge misallocation of capital that has been wasted for over half a century on this. You have to include all government education K-12. These kids didn’t just start learning this in college.
Fixed it.
This makes me laugh and it makes me cry. What the hell does someone do with a Social Ecology degree? Who approves these programs? I am old enough to remember when a college degree meant something.
Effective immediately: a ban on all US currency in physical and electronic form to UC Irvine.
if they won’t fly the flag of those that have secured the ground they walk on... then they should move away from said ground.
,,,, here we have commie egghead professors teaching young minds of mush how to hate America by indoctrination while their parents pay their tuition , house them and pay for their healthcare till their 26.
University of Communism
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use [”]united force[”] to solve economic, political or social problems.
Does this ban on hanging flags on campus that these young Communists-in-training have imposed pertain to the rainbow flag, too ?! /s
No, ban all taxpayer funding!
I think these students should be encouraged to feel proud of the decision that they made. They should view this as a courageous act and a badge of honor. I want them to not be afraid to let everyone know what they believe.
And in particular I want everyone of them to put it on their resume so every real American knows to kick their sorry, traitorous asses to the curb when they come looking for a job after their college/commie education is complete.
Legislative Council of the Associated Students of UCI (ASUCI)
Another tribe of crypto-Nazi savages.
Deny this school all sources of taxpayers’(our) money...let these ungrateful students and their parents and their teachers fend for themselves
Really, Matthew Guevara? If that is not the case, then can you explain to me why you or your parents went to the trouble of immigrating to the US? If America truly is no better than whatever 3rd world Latin American country you originated from, then why did you leave it to come here?
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