Bari Weiss wonders what all the fuss is about
That scamp Bari Weiss has been mixing it up again.
The civil war inside The New York Times between the (mostly young) wokes the (mostly 40+) liberals is the same one raging inside other publications and companies across the country. The dynamic is always the same. (Thread.)
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) June 4, 2020
The New Guard has a different worldview, one articulated best by @JonHaidt and @glukianoff. They call it "safetyism," in which the right of people to feel emotionally and psychologically safe trumps what were previously considered core liberal values, like free speech.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) June 4, 2020
Hmmmyes that’s not at all oversimplified or crude.
But her colleagues say that’s not how it is.
this lazily characterizes both the experience i've had having tough, honest, deeply important conversations w/ dozens of colleagues the last 18 hrs as well as the important, good faith conversation we were having as opinion staff when this was tweeted. https://t.co/BnBRfrtE5Q
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) June 4, 2020
I just twigged, Bari Weiss was one of those self proclaimed intellectual dark web people weren’t they?
Figures. More passing off in-built preconceptions and biases as intellectual thought. Lazy and reactive, combined with contempt for those who express a different view.
Reaching for the nearest dishonest cliché that will appeal to other unthinking bigots seems to be her only strategy.
The intellectual dark web – ah, nothing like associating your movement with organised crime, human trafficking and fraud to give you that aura of credibility.
Rob #1
I believe the term ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ was actually coined by Weiss for a piece where she conflated trans-resisters like Alice Dreger with grifters like Jordan Peterson and Shermer.
It’s been her shtick from the moment she was hired, if I remember correctly.
Let it also be remembered that this is the same Bari Weiss who tried to get her professor fired in college because she didn’t like his opinions on Palestine. And no, she has not admitted she was wrong to do that or state that she has changed her mind. Her position remains: criticizing speech I like is censorship by pathetic snowflakes who are a danger to our rights, but speech I don’t like should be punished.
Thank you, because I’d forgotten it.
JtD @4, you’re right to the extent that Weiss wrote a highly sympathetic puff piece about the ‘leading’ members of the IDW. Her piece got side eye from publications as diverse as the National Review, Vox and the Observer. Even Paul Krugman gave her serious shade.
Incidentally, the term ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ was apparently coined by Eric Weinstein in ep 112 of Sam Harris’ Waking Up podcast. He clearly felt it was a good enough slogan to form an alliance of similarly minded pundits and grifters.
I’m comfortable leaving Weiss in the basket with them.