Some interesting points in this essay; an excerpt:
In most cases, the successful pursuit of political goals requires building broad coalitions by appealing to superordinate identities, shared goals, and common values, while de-emphasizing points of contention. People often have to make compromises, deal with difficult tradeoffs, and adjust their aims, strategies, and goals in light of realities “on the ground.” Effective political action requires discipline, patience, and persistence, to the extent that Weber famously likened it to the “slow boring of hard boards.”
Because the denizens of elite institutions are largely insulated from the consequences of politics, however, they often feel free to approach politics as a combination of a sport, a holy war, and a means of self-expression. For instance, one of the few people arrested at Hamilton Hall with no ties to the university was a multimillionaire lawyer descended from wealthy ad executives, who is married to a model, lives in a $2.3 million townhouse, and regularly engages in violent agitation for sport.
Among the Columbia students, we could see this dynamic at work when the writer and activist Norman Finklestein warned demonstrators that, even if slogans like “From the River to the Sea” and “intifada” aren’t anti-Semitic, they are nonetheless highly polarizing. So if the goal is to bring in people who aren’t already on board, Finkelstein warned, then protesters should probably tone down this kind of rhetoric in favor of more broadly appealing language. The students responded by doubling down on their “From the River to the Sea” chant the moment Finkelstein handed off the mic.
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