Princeton's Left Political Publication December 10, 2019 Masthead

Princeton's Left Political Publication December 10, 2019 Masthead Editor-in-Chief Beatrice Ferguson ’21 Managing Editor Alec Israeli ’21 Senior Editors Chaya Holch ’22 Marc Schorin ’22 Staff Editors Tori Gorton ’21 Jane Markley ’22 Noam Miller ’21 Joshua Judd Porter ’21 Copy Editors Molly Cutler ’23 Rebecca Han ’22 Maryam Ibrahim ’23 Design Editor Kai Tsurumaki ’23 Digital Editor K Stiefel ’20 Treasurer Liam Lonergan ’23 Staff Writers JD Copeland ’23 Cole Diehl ’20 Joseph Feng ’22 Braden Flax ’21 Miguel Gracia-Zhang ’23 Mary Alice Jouve ’23 Chase Lovgren ’21 Rebecca Ngu ’20 Tamica Perera ’22 Emma Popham ’21 Chris Russo ’20 Nalanda Sharadjaya ’21 Logo Design Maria Medrano '17 Cover Beatrice Ferguson ’21 www.theprincetonprogressive.com 2 The Prog IssueIssue 2 - 5October - December 2019 2019 Table of Contents Much Ado About Discourse 4 Braden Flax “Grassroots Organizing 101” and the 5 Coalition of the Progressive University Community Liam Lonergan The Amazonian Synod: Exacerbating 6 Fault Lines In The Catholic Church Mary Alice Jouve The Communist on Witherspoon Street 17 Maryam Ibrahim Beyond Performing Eco-Friendliness 8 K. Stiefel Why is Left-Wing Student Art Bad? 10 Marc Schorin Israel’s 2019 Elections, Explained 11 Kai Tsurumaki Issue Issue5 - December 2 - October 2019 2019 The Prog 3 Much Ado About Discourse Braden Flax hen we discuss ideas, even on a col- gether in disinterested contemplation, to be of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (it clearly does, lege campus, it is the case that such filtered back into the social sphere only as a but I recognize I'm unlikely to win this one) may Wdiscussions have consequences. Such self-righteous afterthought. not be the best way to spend our collective time implications apply not only to the outer world 3. Those who are marginalized are in a and intellectual effort. Aside from the fact that which we will increasingly influence, but also very different position. They may enjoy dis- people who are still obsessed, for example, with to the very people who are involved in, or sub- cussion for its own sake, and they may real- race and IQ fall into this category, this is not jected to, speech that minimizes us to a point of ize the utility of language in developing their what we're talking about; rather, people are im- perceived worthlessness. The ideas that we're perspective, making their case, negotiating plicitly diminished and dismissed according to exposed to and that are legitimized in our envi- with adversaries, and communicating inter- traits, many of which are uncontrollable, that are ronment lay the foundation for our future con- nally. But when it comes to their fundamen- historically the basis for grotesque treatment and duct, and they can have negative impacts for us tal rights, which are under greater threat than systematic dispossession. personally. Unfortunately, there are those who their antagonists care to admit, language Let's take the case of Ben Shapiro, who would counter that, instead of actions, words are cannot be their only recourse. recently stood a chance of being invited to our to be uniquely prized and upheld as the tools of own campus. According to the pretense of the the trade in an atmosphere of academic apathy. Are words actions? Well, it depends. initiative through which his candidacy was ad- Further, sophistry represents the end as well as There is a sometimes useful distinction between vanced, he would, after receiving more votes the means; or to be more precise, it would be as speaking and other forms of expressive behav- than some of his competitors, have been wel- such if it were not so relentless and never-end- ior, but what we say to one another drastically comed to give insightful and productive speech. ing. Resolution, we are assured, can be achieved shapes future interaction, from individual rela- Following this, people would be expected to en- through debate; a robust exchange of ideas can't tionships to political realignments. More to the gage with him according to the rhetorical pillars help but to eradicate ideas that don't make sense, point, speech can have debilitating effects on of right-wing victim culture: civility and defer- refine those that are more defensible, and ulti- those who are exposed to it. While it may not ence. In other words, people should bring aca- mately lead to a Platonic paradise of intellectual make sense to criminalize verbal provocation as demic quibbles and soft-spoken nuance to what vindication and conceptual actualization. Un- we do more explicit forms of physical violence, would then be a one-sided roast, a theatrical ex- fortunately, to espouse this perspective is to ig- one might be inclined to forgive an increased hibition of one-liners executed just well enough nore history, misunderstand the place of words sense of compassion for victims and harshness to titillate the sensibilities of those with nothing in affecting change, and, if one is not careful, to to perpetrators, even if the offense is delivered better to do than to inflate, mock, and lament the support the very steps backward that discourse from behind a microphone. After all, there is a presence of SJWs. Whether or not we are pre- is supposedly so well-suited to guard us against. context for speech; some, delivered aggressive- pared for him is almost beside the point; if we A skeptical reader may prematurely ob- ly and in service of pervasive, unjustified power lost in the court of childlike jeers, this would be ject that, on the one hand, the author claims that structures, is in actuality accompanied by the a function of shallow performance, rather than words are linguistic fillers for conceptual phan- capacity for even more serious affronts. Campus the deep intellectual engagement that is suppos- tasms that don't really manifest in the material trolls and the like, therefore, are merely the allies edly the objective. world, and therefore that they should not monop- and spokespeople of more dangerous reactionary Fortunately, Shapiro's nonsense proved olize our attention. On the other, he ascribes to elements, whose behavior is fairly unambiguous- too much to be implicitly endorsed, even by the them the potential to dehumanize those who are ly beyond offensive language. institution given the geographically imprecise, apparently such snowflakes that they can't even Do power differentials really exist, and but historically apt, designation of “Southern ward off such ineffectual, nebulous rhetoric. are they really that awful? Well, yes, they exist; if Ivy.” (Though in his place, the most votes were What hypocrisy! Perhaps this critic might have you doubt it, try teaching a class spontaneously in received by the most recent CEO of American a point, if the first paragraph really were advanc- your professor's place. More fundamentally, the imperialism, President Barack Obama, who, al- ing the perspective that could be most uncharita- most pronounced divide in our society is that be- though a better speaker by leaps and bounds, is bly attributed. Such an uncharitable attribution, tween laborers and their bosses, rendering neces- even more questionable on multiple fronts.) Ob- though, would fly in the face of an honest de- sary a revolutionary displacement of a decaying jections to executive power notwithstanding, the bate, so I trust an opponent would never stoop so social order. But back to the question of speech, mindset that allowed Shapiro to be brought up in low. Nevertheless, I prefer to cover my bases, so one might wonder if differentiation of roles (be- the first place is the issue at hand. The idea that ahead with the clarification: tween students and instructors, for instance) is his words impact different people in the same really a hierarchical one. Maybe it's not, in some way runs contrary to any adult understanding of 1. Discourse should not be the sole, or pri- far-off future, but we live in the reality that we history and may even be, dare I say it, illogical. mary, object. Words are, in fact, significant, have to navigate day-by-day, even if we strive to He uses different words, in a different tone, with but even more so as deployed by those with transcend it in our politics. So yes, it's pointless different motivations, and with access to a plat- unrestricted access to an audience and the to pretend that hierarchies, many of which are form that most of us are not used to. It's worth authority of a university. unjustified, don't exist, and it follows that speech considering the surrounding context of speech 2. It is unnecessary for those at the top, as it by different people is received and processed dif- not so it can be repressed, but so that it can be were, to express urgency and defensiveness, ferently according to their relative ability to be understood and combated when necessary; there other than as a tactic of propaganda. Since heard and taken seriously. Sometimes, this is all is a difference, after all, between non-invitation the table is already tilted, their words go fur- too necessary; constantly indulging people who and censorship, and just as stark a distinction ther than those of their opponents, and there's say the Earth is flat, or that English is the only between institutional, top-down shutdown and no need to think of their jibes as anything real language, or that rudimentary mathemat- bottom-up opposition. other than the sparks of minds clashing to- ics demonstrates incontrovertibly the existence 4 The Prog IssueIssue 2 - 5October - December 2019 2019 “Grassroots Organizing 101” and the Coalition of the Progressive University Community Liam Lonergan n Saturday, November 9, members of the aggression experienced by the protestors.

Load more