A Red State University Says Faculty Must "Accept And Encourage Change That Is For The Greater Good"

 

West Virginia university recently added a requirement for incoming faculty, spelled out in faculty appointment letters, to “accept and encourage change that is for the greater good.” This prompted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Expression (FIRE) to write WVU, telling school officials that the requirement infringes on the scholars’ expressive rights.

In a July 27 memo to University President E. Gordon Gee, FIRE stated: “Requirements that faculty ‘accept and encourage change that is for the greater good’ and avoid speech that ‘reflects adversely on the image of the University’ … lack clear definitions and that, in turn, lack clear parameters for compliance.” The missive further noted: “Vague directives are also, by their nature, ripe for abuse as they require administrators make inherently subjective judgments and can all too easily be used — and frequently are — to punish faculty who engage in speech or scholarship that may be controversial or which an administrator dislikes, for any reason.” FIRE also noted that “Refusal to sign the appointment letter could result in a faculty member’s dismissal.”

As always throughout history, “for the greater good” go individual rights and the notions of natural law…and freedom.

              “For the greater good” means, if you are in the minority (of anything), you are likely screwed. And, as individuals, we are all a “minority of one,” the ultimate minority. So, do you like your home? Sorry, it’s in the way of plans for a community center/public park/bike path. You’ve gotta give it up for the greater good. Wanna keep your hunting rifle? That’s as may be, but we in government think it presents a hazard to many other people, so hand it over. Fond of your burger, your gas stove, your gas car, your gas lawnmower? Too bad, you can’t have them…because we say they are bad for the climate. The greater good, you know.

Are you refusing to comply with a stranger’s demands that you address them by their preferred pronouns? Have you expressed support for J.K. Rowling or Jason Aldean on social media? Are you a “MAGA” supporter who is planning to vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election? So sorry, but we can’t allow that. You must be ostracized, punished, or cancelled (one way or another) for the greater good.

It's odd how eerily similar this is to what the colonists faced prior to gaining Independence from England. Those who didn’t properly address British troops or certain loyalists were ostracized. Those who expressed support for Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, et. al., were targeted for punishment. Those who signed the Declaration of independence knew they were putting their lives and fortunes at dire risk. But they deemed their sacred honor to be more important.

And no group of people in human history have ever done more “for the greater good.”

It is time to push back against those who would take from us the rights and freedoms the founders bequeathed us. It is time to let the elites who rule over us know that Natural Law cannot be repealed.

It is time for The Second American Revolution.

And that would truly be “For the greater good.”