Impromptus

Hotbeds, &c.

By
Activist Abbie Hoffman speaks to a journalist from the midst of a crowd of protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ill., August 28, 1968. (Santi Visalli / Getty Images)
On student activism; the Republican Party; democratic Portugal; shoulders of giants; and more

Some of my favorite people on earth are activists — human-rights activists, in particular. I think of the men and women, from all over the world, associated with the Human Rights Foundation. Their activism is righteous, informed, necessary — wholly admirable.

Student activism? Let me tell you that student activism — a skepticism of, even an aversion to — is one of the roots of my conservatism. When I was in college, it was clear to me that the activists on campus didn’t know nearly enough to be “active,” so to speak. They should have spent their time learning and maturing.

“Hotbeds of social unrest.” That was a phrase commonly applied to campuses in the 1960s and ’70s. In the 1980s, Abbie Hoffman, the great Yippie, lamented that things had changed. (Hoffman was a nationally famous left-wing activist who had co-founded the Youth International Party, whose members were known as “Yippies.”) He said that campuses were now “hotbeds of social rest.”

That was a good line — worth a hat tip. But I thought, “Good. Campuses ought to be hotbeds — or at least beds — of education. Politics and activism can wait. There will be decades for that.”


More in Higher Education

I accept that this is not a popular view — especially among the young! But it is mine.

• Earlier this week, I was talking with a Princeton student. Bright and wonderful fellow. There is less activism at Princeton than at other places. My friend hazarded why: “We have relatively few graduate students at Princeton. And the instigators on other campuses are the grad students.”

Interesting. Also, makes sense.

• When I’m talking to students (undergrads), I often quote a line we hear from flight attendants: “Exercise caution when opening overhead bins. Items may have shifted in transit.” I say, “Your views may well shift in transit. In fact, they probably will.”

This may be absurdly idealistic — but I think that college years ought to be for learning, exploring, discovering. Soaking up knowledge like a sponge. You may have strong views, this day, this month. But tomorrow, or next month?

Listen. In the past several years, I have seen people in their fifties, sixties, and seventies turn on dimes, ideologically! Some of it is opportunistic. Some of it is sincere (I bet). And some of it — well, they had never really thought things through in the first place. They just go with the flow. And when the flow shifts, so do they.

• Below is a tweet, or “truth,” from a former president, and possible future president. In my estimation, it is a snapshot — close to a perfect snapshot — of the present-day Republican Party.

• Here, Mike Pence shows himself to be a ghost from the Republican past. (And the Republican future, possibly?)

• One thing the “old” conservatism stood for was personal responsibility. Consequences. Accountability. Facing up to one’s own behavior, paying the price, if necessary. Without consequences, there can be no rule of law.

A report from the Associated Press begins as follows:

An Arizona grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and 16 others for their roles in an attempt to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

The indictees “submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won Arizona in 2020.”

People think that when they try to overturn an election there should not be consequences. Well, there should be.

From Arizona to Georgia. Giuliani defamed two election workers in Fulton County: Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss (mother and daughter). Vile stuff, vile lies, which whipped up threats of violence against the women, causing them to seek protection — physical protection. Later, the women sued. Giuliani lost.

Behaving like Giuliani was a website called “Gateway Pundit.” Well, consequences: “Gateway Pundit to file for bankruptcy amid election conspiracy lawsuits.” (Article here.)

There is an expression, popular in some quarters: “F*** around and find out.”

• Throughout life, I have noticed something: People think that, if you don’t like or approve of something, you don’t understand it. Well, maybe you do. You just don’t like or approve of it.

Even at this late date — nine years since the Ride Down the Escalator — people say to me, “But you have to understand what people see in Trump!” Oh, I do. I understand what people see in lots of bad characters and movements. Opposition may arise from misunderstanding — and it may not.

A reader sent me a passage from Starship Troopers, the famous novel by Robert A. Heinlein (1959). Juan “Johnny” Rico is musing about John Dillinger, the bank robber and gangster. “That old saw about ‘to understand all is to forgive all’ is a lot of tripe. Some things, the more you understand the more you loathe them.”

• Funny things are happening in the TikTok debate. Funny shifts, funny swings — funny turns on dimes. In the last year of his presidency, Trump said, “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States.” This week, he said, “Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok.”

Then there is Charlie Kirk, the young Republican leader. Last November, he said, “It’s way past time to ban TikTok. It is a cancer on America.” And now: “Joe Biden is likely to ban TikTok, an app he doesn’t like, because he’s owned and promoted by Big Tech, a massive in-kind political donation that should be investigated.”

Ages ago, there was a rap song, a hit: “Things That Make You Go Hmmm . . .”

• There are people on the illiberal right, in America and elsewhere, who (naturally) celebrate the “Estado Novo” — the “New State” — which was the dictatorship of Salazar and his gang in Portugal. It lasted 40 years. Nasty, squalid, sordid thing.

Yesterday, the AP circulated an interesting, even a moving, report: “Portugal marks the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution army coup that brought democracy.” Long live this estado novo — democracy.

• Have a look at this:

First, I am tempted to say, “Those who have stood athwart ‘impact’ as a verb.” But second, if the question concerns modern America, my answer is William F. Buckley Jr. and Norman Podhoretz (longtime editor of National Review, longtime editor of Commentary). I have said this for decades. Because, for decades, it has been true.

• Twenty-five years ago, John Adams composed El Niño, an opera-oratorio (or oratorio-opera). Earlier this week, it was staged at the Metropolitan Opera. Interesting issues arise. For my review, go here.

• Speaking of Lincoln Center — what are these people drumming up?

• I must say, this thing made me do a double-take:

• Central Park, sportin’ some finery:

Thanks for joining me, y’all. Have a good weekend. Talk to you soon.

If you would like to receive Impromptus by e-mail — links to new columns — write to jnordlinger@nationalreview.com.

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