Once upon a time, colleges were places where young people went to get a taste of the real world. For the first time in their lives, they weren’t babied. They could make decisions for themselves — and be responsible for the repercussions of those actions.
Today, however, they’re places that seek to “accommodate” young adults, leaving them less prepared for reality than ever before.
But at least one Michigan student sees through the nonsense.
He decided to troll the university’s new policy of being “accommodating” to the point that it now offers students the chance of selecting which pronouns must be used when addressing them individually, lest the real world hurt their feelings.
Other colleges have done this — but Michigan took it a step further. Instead of providing a list of options, they let students simply write in their chosen pronouns. That’s when hilarity ensued:
With that, Grant Strobl, a conservative student at the University of Michigan and chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom Board of Governors, decided to change his preferred pronoun to “His Majesty” — in an attempt to make the point that this policy has no basis in reality.
In an interview with The College Fix, Strobl said that “I have no problem with students asking to be identified a certain way, almost like someone named Richard who would like to be called Dick. It is respectful to make a reasonable effort to refer to students in the way that they prefer.”
However, he added that he does have a problem when the university institutionalizes the use of pronouns that are completely arbitrary and may possibly sanction people for referring to someone different than their preference.
Troll level: Grandmaster.
Strobl makes a good point about trying to be accommodating to people you associate with. It’s just nice to call a transgendered friend who identifies as a woman “she” or “her.”
The problem is in making it a requirement. At that point, you’ve made certain speech mandatory. You no longer have any choice in the matter — and Leftists fail to see just why that’s such an obvious problem.
Take note, progressives: When you institutionalize speech and create a potential for official ramifications for failure, you take away one of our most fundamental rights as human beings. Popular and accommodating speech doesn’t need protection.
But speech that challenges popular opinion requires protection. If you’re legally prevented from saying things people don’t want to hear, then all that matters is who gets to make the rules. And at that point, freedom is dead.
Talk of freeing the slaves was offensive to some.
Talk of women voting was offensive to some.
Talk of desegregating the South was offensive to some.
So it sure was a hell of a good thing that Republicans were around to defend the right to unpopular speech back then.
Strobl’s actions, while a great trolling moment, call attention to this fascist, moronic effort to accommodate a handful of students at the expense of free speech. For that, I salute him.
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