CATEGORY: EDUCATION (48 MIN)

Schools of suffering

Public education faces much modern criticism for its progressive and left-wing bias. Conservatives argue against the indoctrination of young children into corrupt ideas about gender identity and ideology. But some public schools may also be broken at a much more basic level: students are dominating teachers. 

In Wesley Yang’s Substack, Year Zero, an anonymous teacher narrates his experience working for Teach for America in a Baltimore inner-city school. This teacher came into the job excited to make a difference in his students’ lives. He left mentally broken from the students’ constant disobedience and unruliness. 

The teacher tells his story through a series of descriptions of some of his individual students. Yes, many came from broken homes and horrific environments, but they also perpetrated violence against one another with alarming frequency. They disrespected the teacher repeatedly, and he remained powerless to control them. 

A couple students took over the classroom themselves, constantly interrupting the teacher and leading the rest of the class in a chorus of defiance. After two years, the teacher left, suffering from nightmares and depression. 

Read this disturbing account of the state of public education right here. 

ISI’s Annual Homecoming Weekend

June 2nd - 3rd, 2023

Hosted on ISI’s beautiful 20-acre campus in Wilmington, Delaware, this year’s Homecoming theme is “The Next Great American.” Through engaging presentations, we will explore the statesmen, titans of industry, and artists that have shaped our nation throughout its history. Special discounted rate of only $50 for ISI students and alumni under age 30! RSVP before tickets are gone here.

Join us in Wilmington, DE >>>

Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.

Dr. Scott Atlas Shouted Down at New College of Florida Commencement Speech via The Stanford Review
“'We cannot have a civil society if it’s filled with people, led by people, who refuse to allow discussion of views counter to their own,' remarked Dr. Scott Atlas as graduating students at the New College of Florida tried to shout down his speech at their commencement ceremony.”

Starbucks Union Drive Hits Cornell With Day Hall Occupation via The Cornell Review
“Avery Bower ‘23 said, 'These protestors are out-of-touch and anti-work. This all originated with a student who objected to working a normal 8-hour shift that a majority of Americans do every day. Their requests of the Cornell administration are far from the mainstream.'”

CATEGORY: CONSERVATISM (18 MIN)

The case for nation

Both the British and American National Conservatism Conferences came in large part from the work of Yoram Hazony, who continues to foster discussion on nationalism and its intersection with the conservative movement. Much of his influence stems from his 2018 opus The Virtue of Nationalism, which won ISI’s Conservative Book of the Year Award. 

In this week’s Intercollegiate Review archive, Samuel Goldman reviews Hazony’s book and gives his own beliefs on the confluence of nationalism and conservatism. First, Goldman restates Hazony’s arguments, which base themselves in the Hebraic tradition. Hazony argues that liberalism is a dangerous principle and that it inevitably tends toward empire—an unacceptable result. 

Goldman responds by claiming that Hazony is really criticizing what Goldman would call “rational constructivism,” and not all of liberalism. He believes liberalism and nationalism are not instantly incompatible. And, Goldman argues, nationalism does not solely result in benefits. 

“Nationalism imposes a heavy cost on internal diversity and pluralism—including the freedom and cultural peculiarities of the ‘tribes’ that make up the greater nation,” Goldman writes.  

Discover more of this important debate about the future of our movement here. 

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