...and faces a predictable right-wing lapidation. Having occasionally come across Mr. Kernion on social media, where he seems a sanctimonious scold, I'm not wholly surprised by his outburst, which says more about his class position than about residents of rural America. But I'm even less surprised that the usual suspects have pounced on this; I hope and expect Berkeley will do the right thing, and continue to make "no comment." Mr. Kernion's speech is lawful, however foolish, and it is none of the university's business.
I'll give the final word to a correspondent from the UK who flagged this episode for me yesterday: "Yet another junior scholar bringing shame to the profession on social media, but this one stands out for his utter ignorance of how countries and economies work. Conservatives are pointing to him as just another philosopher who is clueless about the 'real world.' And in this case they are correct!" But let's remember that Mr. Kernion, like anybody, is a lot more than some unfortunate and ill-considered tweets.
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