This sums up the new conundrum of Clark University students. They can’t promise not to be surprised by something, if that something provokes the natural response of being surprised. No matter how tolerant society becomes, there will never be a time when people aren’t surprised to learn that something they had assumed to be true is in fact false. That’s what surprise is; it’s a fundamental part of human nature. But according to Clark, when it contravenes dogma, it has to be stamped out.
The only way not to be surprised in issues of progressive decorum is to train yourself to sincerely believe the party line. If you don’t, if you think wrong, you can be found guilty of microaggressing.
Thoughtful conservatives wonder how an ideologically unsound, anti-free trade, anti-entitlement-reform, anti-NATO, vulgar loudmouth buffoon like Trump could have become so popular with rightists. This is why. The Ann Coulters of the world think that the only thing that matters to Trump supporters is stopping illegal immigration. They’re wrong; many conservatives are supporting Trump because, in spite of his obvious wrongness on any number of issues, they believe that what this country needs most is a repudiation of political correctness.
It’s news stories like the Clark microaggressions that make responsible people think they might be right.
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