Cognitive Dissident Column in The Hoya

[98hoya]

Has anyone read this column by a Georgetown professor? I'm besides myself. I'm all for academic freedom, but this is so outrageous and bizarre that I can believe it:

thehoya.com/node/15192

[theexorcist]

I remember him as a professor.

The argument is pretty basic and not particularly "outrageous". The idea is that, since the first European settlements weren't "legal", any complaint regarding illegal immigration is spurious. He throws some liberation theology stuff in there, too.

The first point has been brought up by a variety of people. I think that Prof. Lance is not advocating that everyone's an illegal immigrant, but that basing your approach on that is flawed.

I also think he's wrong.

[strummer8526]

That professor, aside from his points right or wrong, comes off like a MASSIVE JERK. He's replying on the message board with condescending, borderline rude posts.

[98hoya]

Exactly, Strummer. It's one thing to have a far-out viewpoint, it's another to be a jerk about it.

[98hoya]

Feb 5, 2008 15:50:11 GMT -5 theexorcist said:

I remember him as a professor.

The argument is pretty basic and not particularly "outrageous". The idea is that, since the first European settlements weren't "legal", any complaint regarding illegal immigration is spurious. He throws some liberation theology stuff in there, too.

The first point has been brought up by a variety of people. I think that Prof. Lance is not advocating that everyone's an illegal immigrant, but that basing your approach on that is flawed.

I also think he's wrong.

I agree - the article is standard far left stuff, probably no more radical than Ralph Nader or even Dennis Kucinich. What's pretty outrageous is the way he makes his argument (and this really is a quote):

"I dream that white people would... for once, shut the **** up."

Besides the fact that he's white (which I guess is just some comical self-loathing), it's simply an immature form of proving a point and less than I would expect from a Georgetown professor. Its what I'd expect of an angry adolescent who was told to read some radical pamphlet and then given carte blanche to say whatever they wanted in an effort to blow the minds of their 8th grade civics teacher.

Also, if you read the comments by readers (which run the gamut from intelligent responses to ad hominem attacks on Prof. Lance), you'll find Prof. Lance's own comments mixed in responding to the reader responses. Prof. Lance's tone is very, very juvenile.

I'm embarrassed that he's associated with Georgetown, and not because of his viewpoint, but because of the way he presents it. Maybe we can trade him straight-up to Boston U. for Noam Chomsky, who seems to have the same ideas but behaves like a gentleman when presenting them.

[ExcitableBoy]

Feb 5, 2008 16:38:40 GMT -5 @98hoya said:

Also, if you read the comments by readers (which run the gamut from intelligent responses to ad hominem attacks on Prof. Lance), you'll find Prof. Lance's own comments mixed in responding to the reader responses. Prof. Lance's tone is very, very juvenile.

I completely agree. When I read the article, I presumed that Lance was knowingly exagerating some claims in an effort to sex up the debate. I was borderline appaled when he responded to a comment by making fun of a girl who ended her comment with "Period." The saddest thing about Lance is that is exactly the kind of rebuke I would expect from a kid who sits in the front row of class and looks down at those who don't (the "SFS All Star" type), and certainly not something I would expect from someone whose job it is to educate others.

[SDHoya]

I don't agree with Lance on this one, but the racist stuff in the comments is pretty shameful. I really hope those posters are not GU students...

[JimmyHoya]

"Hi, I'm Mark Lance, and I'm a prick"

[SoCalHoya]

I don't know, I don't think Lance's comments are all that out there. Some of the commentary to his article is pretty damn foul, though. I am quite certain those aren't GU students posting, though.

[strummer8526]

In one of his posts, he says that apparently, the article made it onto some white supremacist website, which I think may explain why the comments took a strange turn from immigration reform and into "other races are savages" nonsense. To be honest, I'm not a fan of an open border policy (or a sort of de facto open border policy that results from a total failure in enforcing immigration laws). But that's not based on any kind of view of any group as somehow "inferior." When the comments drift into that realm, I think it stops being Georgetown students.

[theexorcist]

He looked better when he had hair and didn't look like he was about to punch people.

I hope I didn't push him over the edge.