New Intolerance Of Student Activism Analysis

In today’s time, people take offense to everything. This can be seen every day in the media; thousands of people protest in cities across the nation on a daily basis for so called “social injustices” and offensive remarks. Conor Friedersdorf explores an example of this in his article, “The New Intolerance of Student Activism.” Friedersdorf describes the explosion of protest on Yale University’s campus after a staff member sent an email out to the student body that offended numerous students. Friedersdorf is not alone; it seems there in a new protest to report every day. In a nation that is supposedly becoming more accepting, it seems it has become more intolerant. Student activism on college campuses has drastically increased over the past

Seemingly inoffensive posts can easily become the center for a huge uproar in a matter of minutes. Jon Ronson explores this topic in his article “How One Stupid Tweet Ruined Justine Sacco’s Life.” His paper is yet another example of the hypersensitivity of the nation. What was meant to be a simple joke sparked a huge protest for white privilege over social media. His article lists several other examples of such posts that sparked similar disputes, all over seemingly innocent comments. Both Ronson and Friedersdorf illustrate the downward trend on acceptance and forgiveness in America today. The land of freedom and acceptance has become less tolerant and unforgiving of unintentionally offensive posts and actions. In today’s society, a simple email or social media post can spark an uprising against the offender, and such an uproar can ruin someone’s life. Conor Friedersdorf explores this in his article “The New Intolerance of Student Activism.” He claims that the new age of activism is a result of “the flawed ideas that they’ve absorbed.” As the country continues of become “more accepting,” one can only wonder if we will become less