Victor Davis Hanson at the AFA's "Failing Grades" conference

Victor Davis Hanson delivering his keynote address at the AFA's "Failing Grades: The Crisis in Teaching on Our University Campuses" international conference.
Victor Davis Hanson Ph.D., is the Senior Fellow in residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; a professor of classics emeritus at California University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007.
Throughout the Western world, the University, once an institution revered for its openness, transparency and breadth of expression, has become a narrow corner where only views which conform to the politically correct zeitgeist are tolerated. The infusion of ideology into the curriculum, coupled with the unwillingness of university administrations to enforce their own standards of academic excellence, has transformed many of these institutions into little more than hollow intellectual shells, given over to a monochromatic view of the world, deprived of balance.
Perhaps the most important question that arises from this sad state of affairs is: what are the consequences of the collapse of basic academic standards? What are our students actually learning and if students fear to express contrarian views, is there hope for our democratic future which depends upon collective discussion, a plurality of views and the oxygen of broad debate for its survival?
With speakers drawn from academic institutions around the world, this conference will begin with the presentation of a scathing California Association of Scholars' report on the University of California, demonstrating the extent of the crisis and its cost to our future. It will then engage in a discussion about how these imbalances might be addressed both within the University structure and beyond it and conclude with a review of the efflorescence of new on-line vehicles for tertiary education which hove much closer to the classical ideal of an informed and balanced university education.

[@willisfritz4562]

This guy is the most intelligent person I have had the pleasure of listening to period

[@robw3027]

Excellent speaker- I was hanging on each word. He explains so clearly the basis for so many problems. Inspiring- there may be hope.

[@georgecostanza4385]

Possibly my favorite talk given by VDH.

[@christinemorse9482]

Wow... Talk about a man with an incredible understanding of people and the world around him. I am blown away the further I dig back into Prof. Hanson's videos and see his forecasts of America if it does/doesn't take a certain action. At the end of this video he answers a question on the economy and comments on it depends on whether Rep candidate does/doesn't want to be liked and how that person can pull the US out of the Obama mess. What did we get - a person not liked, a Republican who pulled our asses out of the fire.

[@MrFreeeeeedom]

Mr Hanson always on point, always delivering clear sober analysis. God bless him.

[@donaldbryan1521]

Wow. He completely predicted 2016 in those last two responses.

[@johnarthor7235]

Brilliant, insightful. I watch them over and over to understand his well thought out points. Common sense with intellectual insight.

[@DWHalse]

After finishing the video I see a pinpoint of light at the end of the our dismal tunnel. That being that men and women like Victor and the people who were in attendance here that we can't see and don't know will take his ideas into the system. I have just recently found Victor and his brilliant analysis of our condition in America. He can even be found on current cable programs as a commentator. What millions of we Boomers fought for is coming to light. My prayer will be that this history, that gave us the freedoms we have today, will find its way into the minds of those who will be leaders of the future. Whether or not you endorse Trump and his personal persona, he has certainly awakened many to get involved in bringing our country back to some semblance of greatness.

[@3xpops]

"Always immune from the ramification of his own ideology". His speeches need much, much more views. Real conversation that need to be had, with facts, intellect, and a decorum of decency and not these emotional hyper hyperbolic outburst which we see on tv all the time posing as news. These outburst come from both ends of the ideology spectrum. Fantastic talk

[@jennymisteqq695]

So sad how universities have further devolved since the date of this speech of June 11, 2014.

[@emsnewssupkis6453]

Correct, it is all steeply downhill. www.campusreform.org/news/ carries stories every day about the crazy SJW mess raging at our universities.

[@joannaradacina7346]

Sir, my son is aspiring to be a college professor and a writer, I am afraid for him. God bless you for trying to explain the impossible.

[@johnmarshall4874]

terrific speaker!

[@helicart]

"if you have a guy who wants to be disliked, we've got a chance" and that's Trump in a sentence. brilliant clear insight from Victor.

[@Plathismo]

Incredibly prophetic, wasn't it? He predicted the economic boom under Trump, the renewed push to energy independence. What a thinker.

[@mountnman3609]

Current foodstamps are at 39+ million Unemployment is at 3.9% GDP growth at 4.2% Little by little, we are turning around.

[@grizzlygrizzle]

He has some conviction about the value of being an unlikable maverick that is elaborated in "Savior Generals."

[@brachio1000]

Frightening and depressing, but brilliant.

[@77Tadams]

amazing speech.

[@Purplexity-ww8nb]

Hypocrites ... immune from the ramifications of their own ideology. Brilliant truth

[@carolcheny]

perfect ending. prophetic.

[@StephenNu9]

Brilliant analysis of post WWII England, and you actually predicted the Trump administration with the last question.

[@kenmeyer100]

a true intellectual (vs the common crowd of blockheads ruling education today) always a pleasure to listen to him

[@sukhadshastry9578]

Those last two answers!! Wow

[@abstr4ctisease]

I absolutely agree with Mr. Hanson on the front of 'hyphenated' studies (XX-studies). Through some miracle the Liberal arts department on my university is lagging behind on the progress of activism taking over. I'm from the Netherlands, live in Nijmegen, go to Radboud University. I'm just finishing my major in History, having taken metaphysics and several philosophy courses on the sides. There are however rapid changes, the older professors (say, 40-50 and above) are absolutely great while the younger ones are rapidly taking over. The concept of Gender and intersectionality was taught in just a tiny number of lectures and were by no means dismissive of biology or any of the sorts. They were just incorporated as 'just another way to approach a historical period' but in no way primary, not even close. Just through these few lectures, around 3 years ago, i can explain the concept better than people on Gender-Studies or Political-Thought masters. It's baffling that over half their entire curriculum or in the case of Genderstudies is the ENTIRE 3-4 YEAR CURRICULUM @.@. It's just the same concept in a different jacket over and over and over and over again, stomping the idea of racism and sexism into everyone's mind. I'm truly happy to say that i have been able to keep this mindset out of the heads of most people i know as they were in some of these courses, where i clearly explained how it is a truly limiting and narrow-minded worldview to adopt. My girlfriend who has her Law Bachelor and is simultaneously finishing a Master's in Law and Political-Thought has to write essays on intersectionality all the time, she laughingly tells me (thank god, once you see the propaganda you can't unsee it, glad she does) about this truly radical professor who wont allow anyone to write in male or female pronouns, it must be 'neutral' (kill me). The subjects are pre-selected, a list from which you can choose--> intersectinality in this, intersectionality in that, ugh. It's infiltrating every field. Luckily our history department is world-class when it concerns most subjects, this is however changing for the worse as the old-garde is leaving. To be frank, i've been saying for years as i've seen various parts of academia that so many studies can just be cut off, there's like 80-90% overlap across entire fields of studies that appear as separate, but are just a tiny segment of older more comprehensive faculty studies. In a way a feel like my generation has been dealt a terrible hand in this regard, i am not a victim in any way. In fact i feel like one of the lucky few that dodged the bullet, along with many of my fellow sophomores 5 years ago. We talk alot about how feminists are taking over, 30-ish y.o. painfully penetrating voice-wielding carreerists that produce and produce the same 'radical'(as in 1-sided-->1 explanation for everything) articles that bring nothing new to the table. We've beem joking about it for years whenever we encountered a lecture given by them. You can see them from a mile away, which is no good sign on a university and is getting less funny by the day.

[@charlespeterson3798]

I grew up in Idaho in the 50's and followed my girlfriend to U.C Berkeley in 1968. All I knew for sure by the spring of 69' was that whatever they were thinking, whatever their motives, I was against it. They (leftists) made getting an education impossible. Self absorbed, tyrannical and pandered to by the Board of Trustees, they destroyed a great university in front of our eyes, seemingly in 6 months. They never looked back, and no one has called them on it, aside from a few brave people like Dr. Hanson. I'm sure he has paid the price. It makes me ill.

[@dickmeisterling3924]

As expected, brilliant.

[@curtiscashen628]

I really like VDH and have listened to most of his talks. That is saying something considering how many talks he gives. What strikes me when I watch him is with that nice suit on he looks like a dressed up farmer, that's not a bad thing.

[@msbae]

He is a dressed-up farmer. His family has run an almond orchard for at least 5 generations.

[@Min-xm8tp]

Very interesting, and nice to have Ned Flanders introducing it too!

[@tannykeeler9728]

This man speaks for me.

[@markfennell1167]

His personality represents much of what us white Americans are trying to go back to. Intelligent discussions with a very kind and wise demeanor. That is the American culture. which is also a European descendant culture. That we are trying to cultivate

[@robertsias7107]

History is good to learn. Nobody likes it to embarrassing. This includes the Bible and ancient history. Keep up the lessons in history maybe some day we will change.

[@ericgrosch2486]

VDH is mistaken at 2:30 "The idea of education was literal: educare was to lead somebody from one place, x, out of it to another." In fact, to lead out of one place to another is the third-conjugation Latin verb, educere, emphasis on the second syllable, not the first-conjugation Latin verb, educare, emphasis on the third syllable, which means to nurture or instruct and which is the Latin verb at the root of the English term, education.

[@thedoc-eh7yj]

Webster's New World Dictionary gives this etymology for 'educate': "ME _educaten_ < L _educatus_ pp of _educare_ , to bring up, rear, or train < _educere_ < _e-_ , out + _ducere_ , to lead" ( where "

[@robertcabrera3989]

Like Britain, Argentina after WWll went all in with government takeover of railroads, utilities, gas and oil, etc. My grandmother who lived there ordered a telephone but died after waiting fourteen years. Sadly, Argentina never had a Margaret Thatcher to restore free market conditions and is in constant economic turmoil.

[@TheMoisex01]

Is there a transcript of this?

[@mannix1969]

He sounds like John Malkovich

[@dks13827]

Apollo program is not taught. Why?

[@oldkoot5828]

Victor is as smart as they come.

[@paulrevere2379]

The way you stop war is to be a nation with the most brilliant warriors educated about war the same way you stop diseases by educating doctors about those diseases.

[@michaelostrovski3469]

Go to 47 minutes and hear Dr. Hanson prescient response to what he believes will happen in the future

[@xtusvincit5230]

VDH & JP ftw

[@unclejj13er75]

Ha! And Trump became that guy who Loves to be disliked...nay...Hated!!! And boy do they love to hate him...in the end everyone gets what they want...

[@conservativewhitemale852]

Very insightful. Luckily we have someone in the White House now that doesn't care if he's liked.

[@boobtuber06]

This man is objectively wiser than our 44th president was... think about that...

[@Rogjp]

Maybe senior faculty and management at universities earn too much, but that is just one symptom of the inequality in American society. According to Bloomberg: "The CEOs of S&P 500 companies made 347 times more than their employees in 2016, up from a ratio of 46-to-1 in 1983, according to the AFL-CIO. That’s more than twice the gap in Switzerland and Germany, and about 10 times bigger than in Austria. In Japan, CEOs make about 67 times more than workers, and eight of the ten highest-paid executives there are from other countries." Something wrong, surely?

[@kidsiek4012]

Omg Its December 2019 and its only gotten worse. Please go give TRUMP some advise and be consulting him and the administration to redirect the education system in AMERICA Mr. Victor Davis Hanson. You are my go to guy to learn History and common sense. God Bless you and God Bless American Patriots. Season Greetings and Merry Christmas.

[@davidshaw9262]

He would be the only living perfect wise/scholar/man. If we ever ran into each other and he was able to avail himself of my mentorship..................Humor folks.....an attempt at any rate...

[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@stephenarnold3015]

The example of post-War British decline attributable to nationalization is not well chosen. Germany and Japan industrialised rapidly thanks largely to massive US investment. Britain was still in 1945 not only not receiving comparable investment but was sending aid to an USSR that was never acknowledged by the Russians. British efforts in outdoing Axis-Europe industrial production were indeed extraordinary but not in the long-term sustainable. One would have to have been there to understand the utter exhaustion.

[@davidwalker1793]

Listening to Victor Davis Hanson’s wise words today sadly the US university system seems to be even worse than it was 9 years ago; and the political administration under Biden is just a third term for Obama’s socialist vision. A radical reset needs to occur in 2024 or unfortunately VDH’s worst predictions without change will come to pass.

[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@jasonbrasington7880]

Progress update: apparently the US debt was closer to $17 trillion at the time of this video. In May 2023 the US debt is closer to $31.4 trillion.

[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@raginald7mars408]

It is NOT the University, the teacher, ...it is the Student! The attitude, the work, the concentration. My Biology Professor: " The GOOD ones - always make it..."

[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@ericgrosch2486]

Since Hanson is supposedly a classicist he knows or should know that "educo, educare," a first-conjugation Latin verb, the etymologic root of "education," means to nurture or nourish, not "to lead out from one place to another.. The Latin verb that means that is the unrelated third-conjugation verb, "educo, educere."

[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@Vitomazzarino]

49:20 Yeah what future Republican president would want to be disliked?

[@hectorgarcia6098]

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[@needparalegal]

Wages have not increased since 1969, so all that growth went to the top 1%.

[@mountnman3609]

In 1968 the median household income was $7700 that would be $55,995.13 The most current numbers are for 2016, which is $59,039 We've seen wages rise over the last 2 years of about 3% a year Which means we are probably at about $62k right now On 1972, my parents bought their house at $36,000. That SHOULD BE $215,933.43 when figured in todays numbers. Right now, it would sell for $220,000 These numbers show that the house price is almost dead on for inflation. Current median household income is running about 10% higher.

[@goodtalker]

Didn't Avi die?

[@ericgrosch2486]

VDH claims, at 2:29, "the idea of education was literal. Educare was to lead somebody from one place, 'ex,' out of it, to another." That's inaccurate and it's a surprising error, coming from a supposed classicist, who should know Latin. He's referencing the wrong etymologic root. The Latin verb for lead out is educere, which is a third-conjugation Latin verb and which is NOT the etymologic root of education. It differs from educare, which is the etymologic root of "education," and which is a first-conjugation Latin verb. It means to nourish or nurture.

[@Cpowcha02]

I love VDH...but that coat is much too big

[@juanfelipe8484]

It’s the classic VDH look lol