MORAL POLLUTION IN PLACE OF REASONED CRITIQUE: At Quillette, Pamela Paresky, chief researcher and in-house editor for The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt quotes a passage from their new book predicting how its authors would be attacked by identity politics-obsessed critics, and then notes that the “Grauniad” chose just that response:

In fact, we can make a prediction right now, while writing this book in 2017: Most of the negative reviews and responses to this book will at some point note our race and gender and then directly assert or vaguely hint that we are racists or sexists who are motivated primarily by the desire to preserve our privilege. We will then respond in the spirit of Mark Lilla, the author of a critique of identity politics titled The Once and Future Liberal. Lilla, an avowed liberal who wrote his book to help the Democrats start winning elections, responds to repeated name-calling by saying, essentially, “That is a slur, not an argument. Make an argument and I’ll respond to it.”

So far, The Coddling of the American Mind has received generally positive reviews from writers on the Left, Right, and center. A notable exception is a review by Moira Weigel titled “How Elite US Liberals Have Turned Rightwards.” It appeared in the Guardian, and illustrated the tactics we predicted.

A Fisking ensues, which is well worth reading.