THE UNPATRIOTIC ACADEMY by Richard Rorty
"Most of us, despite the outrage we may feel about governmental
cowardice or corruption, and despite our despair over what is
being done to the weakest and poorest among us, still identify
with our country. We take pride in being citizens of a self-
invented, self-reforming, enduring constitutional democracy.
We think of the United States as having glorious--if tarnished--
national traditions.
        Many of the exceptions to this rule are found in colleges
and universities, in the academic departments that have become
sanctuaries for left-wing political views. I am glad there are
such sanctuaries, even though I wish we had a left more broadly
based, less self-involved and less jargon-ridden than our present
one. But any left is better than non, and this one is doing a
great deal of good for people who have gotten a raw deal in
our society: women, African-Americans, gay men and lesbians.
This focus on marginalized groups will, in the long run, help
to make our country much more decent, more tolerant and
more civilized.
        But there is a problem with this left: it is unpatriotic.
In the name of 'the politics of difference,' it refuses to rejoice
in the country it inhabits..." (Section 4, p. 15 OP-ED).
 
Richard Rorty, professor of humanities at the University of
Virginia, is author, most recently, of "Objectivity, Relativism
and Truth."
 
That's all (again).
 
Robbin Murphy
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