Gaslighting, Equity, and Australia
The Epic Gaslighting Has Begun!
Cenk Uygur is the founder and CEO of The Young Turks, a woke, far-left YouTube show. He is not someone I pay attention to. However, on March 6 he put out this remarkable tweet:
Please read that again.
Equity talk dominates K-12, college and university systems; is entrenched in all fortune 100 companies and the overwhelming majority of publicly traded companies; is institutionalized in the US Federal Government’s architecture while being deemed a necessity by the US military; and it has infected every aspect of American public life. To simultaneously assert that “anyone outside of twelve leftists and the entire right-wing believe is real” and that all along he believed “that equality of opportunity is the right standard” is a breathtaking, monstrous lie.
Cenk likely made this tweet in response to Bill Maher asking Bernie Sanders about the difference between equity and equality.
I was shocked that Sanders could not instantly state the difference between equity and equality, especially since he makes an explicit commitment to equity on his webpage.
Almost overnight, equity has become the North Star of public and private intuitions. One would think that someone of Sander’s stature and experience would know the difference, and if Sanders has to think about it, imagine the average American trying to make sense of these terms. I have long asserted that confusion over the meanings of words is one of the primary ways people have been hoodwinked by Social Justice ideology—they do not understand the policies they are institutionalizing.
If you want a 60-second explanation of equity, go here. If you want a 60-second explanation of other words in the woke lexicon, go here.
I’m in Australia!
I have a 21-day visiting professorship at the University of Technology Sydney. I’m using this as an opportunity to discharge the mission of my nonprofit, National Progress Alliance, which defends free expression and fosters civil discourse.
Below are a few of my events in Australia and a Minds event in Austin when I return in April. (More events are being finalized.) If you attend, please introduce yourself and say hello!
Sydney, Australia
March 14, 2023, 5:00 PM – How to Have Impossible Conversations at University of Technology Sydney. UTS Building 4.
March 15, 2023, 5:30 PM – The Socratic Method in the Western Tradition: Theory and Practice through the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilization. The lecture will be held at the Dixson Room at The State Library of NSW. Write to ramsayevents@ramsaycentre.org to attend.
March 22, 2023, 5:00 PM – Critical Thinking in Practice: Spectrum Street Epistemology at University of Technology Sydney. UTS Vicki Sara Building 7.
Melbourne, Australia
March 31, 2023, 7:00 PM – Better than Q&A: Impossible Conversations with Peter Boghossian at The Manningham with Matt Wong of DISCERNABLE and “Australia’s most controversial comedian,” Corey White.
Austin, Texas
April 15, 5:00 PM – MINDS FEST at Vulcan Gas Company, Austin, Texas.
While in Australia, I’ll be traveling with my friend Reid Nicewonder (Twitter) and we’ll be livestreaming. I hope to have some interesting conversations with interesting people, and I’ll post those to Substack.
Thank you to everyone who subscribes, and a special thanks to my paid subscribers who help us produce meaningful content that moves the needle.
Peter
Why on earth would one ever respect Bernie sanders?
Cenk Uygur is a master of the Motte and Bailey. You have to be, if you want to become as influential (and prosperous) as he is on the Left. He knows what the definition, in practice, of "equity" is that's being used to steamroll American culture into Globohomo mediocrity, and he knows that that working definition is one that most Americans would find objectionable, so whenever he's pressed for a definition, he knows which meaning of the term "equity" to assert; they're not the same definition, and he knows that.