Last week there was a nasty but revealing incident at Norfolk State in Virginia — a biology prof was canned because he gave students the grades they actually earned, not the inflated grades the administration wanted him to give in order to keep the students happy.
I comment on this event and the disturbing trend of lowering academic standards to keep students happy here.
As I see it, this is part of a more general problem. Modern (as opposed to classical) liberalism encourages people to complain whenever they find the world not exactly to their liking. Rather than encouraging people to make whatever adjustments they need to so they can deal with the world, as laissez-faire does, interventionist liberalism tells people that they should demand the others adjust to make the world nicer for them. Is your income too low? Well complain about it and politicians will raise the minimum wage. Are your grades too low? Whine about it and the college will get rid of professors who are so insensitive as to insist on tough standards.
Adults take responsibility for their actions and change if they’re dissatisfied, but liberalism treats people like children and rewards them when they complain that things aren’t just the way they want them to be.
