QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:51 A.M. ET:  A number of readers have alerted us to the brilliant column by Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal.  Stephens pretends that he's addressing the class of 2014, and he deals with the deterioration of the American university.  Here is quote:

And at least one basic teaching of true liberalism is that the essential right of free people is the right to offend, and an essential responsibility of free people is to learn how to cope with being offended.

I'll grant you this: It's not all your fault. The semi- and post-literates who overran the humanities departments at most universities long before I ever set foot in college are the main culprits here. Then again, it shouldn't be that hard to figure out what it takes to live in a free country. The ideological brainwashing that takes place on campus isn't (yet) coercive. Mainly, it's just onanistic.

There's good news in that. You can still take charge of your education, and of your lives. The cocoon years are over; the micro-aggressions are about to pour down.

Deal with it. Revel in it. No consequential idea ever failed to offend someone; no consequential person was ever spared great offense. Those of you who want to lead meaningful lives need to begin unlearning most of what you've been taught, starting right now.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's worth it.  I wish Stephens had the chance actually to deliver it to a real graduating class.  However, he's a conservative writer at a capitalist paper, so I assume he received no invitations.  The kids, and, more important, the professors, could learn from him.

May 21, 2014