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Notes -
Have you considered not working for the Nazis at all?
Schindler had very tangible acts of subversion that outweigh his support for Nazism. But can you go home and put yourself to sleep telling yourself that what you do is the equivalent of saving human beings from being killed? Do you really think you have the guts to ruin yourself both materially and spiritually doing whatever you think is important. Is it worth it?
Lying hurts the soul, claiming to be what you are not takes a toll, not to mention you might start becoming the lies out of necessity. And then what will you think of yourself.
On the other side I've seen many people cope with the state of the system by just ignoring it and continuing as if the crazies will never reach them, doing nothing to impede their progress.
The only question here is what is your purpose and where are you more useful to that purpose whatever it may be. The rest doesn't matter.
So what is it. What do you want to do exactly? Is it even possible, and what would it take.
It's true, I have no analog to the cover of a factory nor to victims of a murderous regime, but I am the only unrepentant member of my race and gender in my department. Time and again I have seen that glint in the eyes of students (male and female) who see me as the last vestige of intellectual masculinity (not that I embody that in any definitive way, but given the environment, I might as well be Tolkien himself), someone who is proud of the Western world and the European legacy (in parts) and who maintains a spine in a world of competitive cuckoldry.
Without sounding too vain, I'm reminded of the Jordan Peterson phenomenon with young men finally finding shelter from a world that hates them. I think about where I and many others would be without 12 Rules for Life and feel the imperative of being the only lighthouse on a rocky shore.
But then again, maybe I am actually doing all of them a disservice by deceiving them into thinking this could be worth their time, deserving of their effort, a reason to be hopeful. Perhaps without me, accelerationism would take over and students who would otherwise "grin and bear it" would leave academia. Or perhaps I have deceived myself, and I truthfully do not alter the confidence and futures of students. Any of the above is possible.
What I want to do is alter the ideological temperature of the department, and I very much understand the impulsive scoff I often hear in reaction to that. But the fact of the matter is I've already seen results in small ways; students thinking about issues from two sides, contemplating perspectives they never would have had reason to consider before. So that vision is still there... essentially, I suppose I quixotically believe in academic reformation with the idealistic chaos of a Disney or Luther. I expect to have visions of the devil within the semester.
As long as you are grounded in reality and stick to your guns, then I have faith in your ethics and moral vision in a world gone mad. When the inquisition comes for you, don't squirm. Look them in the eye and hold your ground, even if it means losing your job, and inevitably later down the road, losing your life, like Bonhoeffer.
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