Mike the Mad Biologist

The Continuing Ethical Collapse of Our Elite Institutions: The Yale Rape Chant Edition

Posted by Mike on October 21, 2010
(6)
More »

So my first thought upon reading that a fraternity pledge ritual involved chanting in a public place “No Means Yes, Yes Means Anal” was “Frat boys are still assholes. Nice to see that some things remain constant.” Then I read that this happened at Yale, and my next thought was, “I wonder which of these assholes, when he graduates, will be hired by J.P. Morgan.” (“You’re one of the anal rape guys? Congratulations, you’re hired!”)

Then, upon further reflection (such as it is for the Mad Biologist), I stumbled across the following question:

Why haven’t they been suspended, or, preferably, expelled?

Frankly, anyone who thinks shouting in public–or thinking it privately–that “No Means Yes, Yes Means Anal” should have never been accepted to Yale in the first place. Like or it not, by declaration, these budding young men sociopaths, upon graduating, will be thought of as ‘elite’ (even as the reality is otherwise). They have will access and opportunity that most others will not have. With the authority to confer such prerogative comes the responsibility to bestow it judiciously. These students have not only failed to demonstrate that they have earned this privilege, they have demonstrated that they would misuse it. Because when I was a wee Mad Biologist, it would have never even occurred to me to believe that–and I’m just not that good a person (not being pro-rape just isn’t that hard to do).

At this point, inevitably, there will be a douchebag crying, “Political correctness! AAIIIEEE!!” No. “No Means Yes, Yes Means Anal” is not a political ideology or a philosophical perspective, it is a pathology. And, if acted upon, it is, of course, criminal. Yale has the advantage that it is not a public university, so it does not have to worry about First Amendment issues: it can suspend or expel anyone it wants.

If Yale has any sort of ethical standards–and given that our elite educational institutions are essentially finishing and technical schools for the Mandarin class, there is no reason believe that Yale does have such standards–they will come down hard on these ‘men.’

Our elite institutions are failing us, and one reason, among several, is that our elites have never been trained in ethics; in fact, they receive subtle messages that unethical behavior will go unpunished (or even be rewarded).

Big Shitpile and the irresponsible parasitism of Wall Street did not arise in a vacuum.

(6)
More »

Comments

  1. #1 Sielnt Service
    October 21, 2010

    Conservative Religious people call me immoral. I wonder what they have to say about this shit?

  2. #2 John Danley
    October 21, 2010

    Talk about entitlement and objectification. Maybe they should join the priesthood.

    “Entitled Prick means Arrogant Fuckwad, Arrogant Fuckwad means Entitled Prick.” The tautology is complete.

  3. #3 Dunc
    October 21, 2010

    Of course they’re pathological – they’re being groomed for power.

    Not bug. Feature.

    These students have not only failed to demonstrate that they have earned this privilege, they have demonstrated that they would misuse it.

    Quite the contrary. This is what power is for, and this is how you earn it. Welcome to the nasty, brutal reality of human existence. Sucks, doesn’t it?

    That whole “great power brings great responsibility” thing is strictly for comic books. The truth is that great power brings great power. And we all know what the purpose of power is, right? Power. It’s not power if you don’t exert it over the less powerful.

    This incident is a perfect illustration of the fundamental nature of our society. It’s almost a work of art.

    Our elite institutions are failing us

    They’re not ours, they’re theirs. And they’re operating exactly as intended.

  4. #4 Eric Lund
    October 21, 2010

    Dunc, we know that not every elite institution brushes this sort of thing off. Consider the sanctions MIT imposed on its Phi Beta Epsilon fraternity (see this discussion) for infractions less serious than what is alleged at the Yale DKE* chapter here. Granted there hasn’t been enough time for Yale’s judicial process to play out, but they deserve a punishment at least as harsh as what MIT did to PBE.

    *This chapter has been in the news a bit during the last decade thanks to one of their alumni from the 1960s, a George W. Bush.

  5. #5 Moopheus
    October 21, 2010

    Eric, you have to keep in mind that MIT is an elite educational institution, but Yale is an educational institution for the elites. There’s a difference. How many of our presidents have been from Yale, Harvard, or Princeton, and how many from MIT? There’s still a cultural divide there.

  6. #6 natural cynic
    October 21, 2010

    Eric L:

    *This chapter has been in the news a bit during the last decade thanks to one of their alumni from the 1960s, a George W. Bush.

    I can just imagine W sitting back and sighing at this whole affair, thinking about the good old days as president at the deke house. Then he would think that he couldn’t get the pledges to do this back in his day because Yale wasn’t co-ed then.