Liberalism’s definition of “equality” rests on a denial of
reality. That is, a denial of real differences. Under liberal
thought, “equality” means sameness, even amongst things
that are obviously not the same. Why do liberals mark off as a
no-go area the recognition of stark differences between men and
women? Because to say the sexes are different is to threaten
“equality.” Anyone wishing to enter polite liberal society must not
merely say that men and women possess the same dignity; they must
say that men and women are exactly the same, in every respect, even
if that means ignoring something as basic as the fact that men and
women don’t have the same chromosomes.
Woe to the public figure who doesn’t close his eyes to reality.
Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard University, is the latest
casualty of the left’s reality-denying definition of “equality.”
Poking his head far too close to the buzzsaw of academic
liberalism, Summers has been excoriated for stating in a speech
last week that “innate differences” exist between men and
women.
This was too much reality for professors in the audience to
handle. “I would’ve either blacked out or thrown up,” said Nancy
Hopkins, a biologist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who
stood up and left Summers’ speech, reports the Boston Globe. “It is so
upsetting that all these brilliant young women (at Harvard) are
being led by a man who views them this way,” she added.
Summers was dimly aware that stating the obvious is a
provocation on liberal campuses. So he girded his audience for
comments about “differences” between the sexes with the preface,
“I’m going to provoke you.” But his ginger approach to the subject
was still “upsetting” to members of the audience. Not false, but
upsetting. Notice that professors don’t even bother to formulate
their criticisms in cerebral language anymore; they just express
emotional hurts.
So what does the uproar mean for Summers? Obviously he’ll need
to “adjust his attitude.” In other words, close his eyes to reality
so as not to upset his tenured faculty. And if he doesn’t, then the
man must be driven from campus. That’s what academic liberalism
comes down to. Denying reality, liberalism can’t provide reasons
for its positions; it can only cow people into accepting them. It
can’t show conservative dissenters the truth of its claims —
because they are so manifestly not true — so it falls back on the
force of political correctness. You won’t accept our denial of real
differences between men and women? Okay, we’ll hector you until you
do.
Ideology is often used as a synonym for philosophy. It is not.
At least not for sound philosophy. Ideology is not philosophy but
the absence of philosophy. Instead of reasoning about reality,
ideologues push ideas that do not correspond to reality, bullying
and demagoging those who will not succumb to their fictions.
Feminist ideology is exhibit A of this pattern. To convince people
that all differences between the sexes are due to “socialization”
— that is, a sexist culture — it can’t tolerate a Lawrence
Summers saying as he did last week that his daughter, when barely
out of the crib, immediately took two toy trucks and turned them
into dolls. She called one truck “daddy truck” and the other “baby
truck.” Summers concluded from this experiment with his child that
the “socialization” theory is a crock.
How do ideologues prevent common sense from spreading? By
turning common sense into an “offense” — a thought crime. Feminist
ideologues understand this well. In due course, they will extract
from Summers an apology for committing a crime against equality,
and a promise not to acknowledge reality ever again.
The price of “equality” is severe, exacting equal mindlessness
from both sexes as they turn off their minds and form surreal
attitudes to keep destructive fictions afloat. As mothers have
known from the beginning of time, male and female newborns — who
have never been in society a single day — display differences. But
this can’t be acknowledged lest the “socialization” theory
explode.
The higher you go in education the lower the quality of thought.
Summers made the mistake of telling the truth. Doesn’t he know that
to be a great mind at Harvard you must never use your own?
