"Coalition of the Sane" 7/14
By now, you’ve heard about and probably read Bari Weiss’ speech The New Founders America Needs. Did you notice the italicized phrase in this passage?
I want to offer you the briefest overview of the core beliefs of the un-American revolution we are currently living through, which are abundantly clear to anyone willing to look past the hashtags and the jargon. Then I want to tell you what I think we—liberals, conservatives, independents, trads, whigs, normies, the coalition of the sane—can do to stop it in order to preserve the precious virtues that have made this country the last, best hope on Earth and that have made every single one of our lives possible.
I was titillated by the phrase “coalition of the sane.” It sounds really promising, but she never returns to it in her speech. And I am left wondering about the terms “coalition” and “sane.”
In this context, what does it mean to be sane? Probably it means believing that men and women differ in physiologically identifiable ways. It means believing that a color-blind society is a desirable goal. It means believing that freedom of speech and freedom of inquiry are important values. It means understanding that market processes have some virtues and that government processes have some vices.
But what does it mean to be a coalition? A coalition works together to overcome opposition. I do not think that Weiss’s list of constituents actually are a coalition. It includes too many of what I call Enablers—people who profess principles that differ from Woke ideology but who are ready to excuse it. Like Jonathan Haidt, they put the blame on social media. Like Jonathan Rauch, they put the blame on Donald Trump
Do you want to be more than an Enabler? Demand that the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion be abolished. Support laws banning “gender-affirming care” for minors and giving parents clear authority to shield their children from those pushing gender transition on them. Insist on the use of standardized tests and rigorous, color-blind grading practices. Fire the teachers and professors who require “activism” from their students. Fire the employees who bring politics into the workplace. Repeal laws that require “diversity” on corporate boards. Insist that pensions and other investments be directed toward profits, not toward “ESG.” Stop encouraging your kids to attend Ivy League colleges.
Who is willing to take such stands? If it is just conservatives, then I’m afraid that I have to disagree with Bari Weiss. We do not have a coalition of the sane.
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