Readers React: The righteous indignation of today’s college students

To the editor: Jonah Goldberg strives mightily to reduce much of our recent social and civil unrest in our schools to political correctness. What has changed? The students, according to Goldberg, who are coddled and spoiled, saved by “helicopter parents.” (“The delicate little flowers on today’s college campuses,” Op-Ed, Nov. 10)

But perhaps we are seeing the evolution of new students who are less likely to swallow the bitter pill of two societies, one small and rich with all the advantages this entails, and the other middle class and poor with all the problems that this brings, and contained by a police state.

Maybe we should ask how long we can live in a society where the rich buy the legislators, the poor are neglected and our social institutions are inadequate. Then we might say enough is enough and start to challenge the real problems in our society, as some students are doing.

Ralph Mitchell, Monterey Park

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To the editor: It’s a sad day in higher education when the University of Missouri football team — possibly the least academic organization on campus — influences the leadership of an academic institution by threatening not to play unless the school president resigns.

The inmates are definitely running the institution.

Dave Pierce, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Let’s be honest here: “politically correct” is a polispeak term for “polite,” primarily used by impolite people to denigrate politeness and cast aspersions on those who prefer a kinder and gentler approach to social interactions.

Although there is no law requiring anyone to be polite, that is not enough for Goldberg. He feels he needs a different phrase to cast politeness in a bad light, as though it is not at all praiseworthy but truly a great social evil. Only mean people would redefine our lexicon to make meanness into a virtue.

Let’s face it: Why else would anybody want to invent a phrase with seven syllables just to replace a perfectly honest word with only two syllables?

Angus Andrews, Westlake Village

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