Many academics I see online are leftist whereas many laypeople I see online are right wing.

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[–] 24 points 2 days ago (1 child)

Good video on the topic. TL;DR: They believe it's inevitable and not something you can just fix/that you can only fix very slowly. It's a fucking stupid worldview, but not an impossible one, though it's not hard to see why such worldviews tend to come from positions of privilege.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 day ago

    Common subsets of this category (cynics) I’ve seen or met include those who are (A) opportunists working the corporate funding angle who are allowed or even encouraged to do so by their departments/institutions, and (B) obligate centrists who are so reticent to be identified as leaning in any particular direction politically that they effectively accept or even endorse any and every systemic injustice.

    Subgroup A are quite prevalent in journals yet tend to have markedly low-quality contributions comparatively, leading me think they are over-represented in peer review especially, easily a symptom of corruption inherent to private journals.

    Subgroup B are IMO the academic version of MLK’s “white moderate” who are simply self-interested careerists. I would say these are by far the most common by number. They aren’t working for the Right directly like subgroup A, but they won’t lift a finger to help if it might jeopardize their position. That is to say, cowards.

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