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The Coddling of the American Mind

How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
Oct 06, 2018RyMac92 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Prepare to be triggered: or Give this book to a snowflake you know and love. This book was very entertaining and informative to read. It has a serious flaw to it, but that shouldn’t stop folks from picking it up, especially if you are someone who considers yourself to be a progressive. I’m not trying to lump you into a category, but this book can best serve it’s purpose if the very “progressive” people of Seattle listen to it with an open mind. The book details many examples of recent outrage on college campuses. Most of these tantrums come from the far-left. The authors do their damnedest to stay clear of politics and ideologies, but it’s impossible for the reader to not make their own interpretations given the leftist rational behind many of these campus tirades. The author’s outline how, why, and what led to this recent trend on, generally speaking, Elitist, left-leaning American universities and what it means for our present day culture and politics. They do a good job of presenting the case, criticizing detractors, and offering solutions on how we as a society can overcome this insanity. My biggest complaint with this book is that the authors come across as the mealy-mouthed, disingenuous, pandering administrators they painstakingly criticize throughout the book. They seem to go out of their way to capitulate to these students and let them know that their feelings, while totally outrageous, are also exceptionally justified. It’s this terrible fence sitting tone that undermines the book’s thesis and portrays the author’s as total hypocrites and somewhat spineless cretins (I have to give the authors some credit, as they are in the minority in standing up to these college punk’s thuggish behavior by even writing the book in the first place). The authors begin in some of the first chapters by donning a new word - "anti-fragile", to help describe the recent influx of hypersensitivity on college campuses. This alone lets you know the writers are attempting to speak to both sides of the aisle. It comes across as disingenuous only because they seem to disregard just about all of their logical evidence to appeal to the “emotional” side. Anti-fragile is not a valid substitute for fragile. The authors do not differentiate it in a way that makes its discussion worthwhile. Instead, it comes across as yet another example of the older generation (adults) walking on eggshells in fear of totally ostracizing this lunatic fringe of radical leftists. One way or another people ought to read this book. It’s sad that two such intelligent individuals did not have the confidence or courage to genuinely defend the position they advocate for. I do believe the author's had a choice here, and in attempting to assuage the very people this book is subject to, the writer's unintentionally alienate the cast of characters they otherwise pretend to champion. The book boils down to classical liberal principles being set aside in order to not offend the more regressive, backwards thinking that continues to gain traction on American universities.