It was definitely dialed down a lot but I don’t see the connection with 10/7. Much of the change where I am was provoked by the patient and painstaking work of the conservative organizations that sued for discrimination again and again. The other crucial factor is the money shortage. Even at our obligatory anti-racist bookclub we weren’t assigned a racial book this Fall. Instead, we are reading a pro-neoliberal book about the high moral value of austerity.
So in both cases it’s about money.
Also, you can motivate people with negative emotions – guilt, pity, etc – for a short period of time. But you can’t evoke them for long. Neoliberalism – unlike DEI – is successful because it appeals to the best, strongest, most motivated part of us. We like it because it feels good, even if it’s killing us in the process. It’s a feel-good drug.
I spent the morning at a budget meeting where I successfully defended my department against every attempt to cut us down. I won because I was really prepared. Other people will lose but I won. And it feels good.
After the meeting, I worked on my research to enhance my personal brand, and again, it feels good. I have a whole system in place to ensure my high productivity, including 5 apps and professional psychological support. Success, accolades, awards – that’s all motivating. Listening to how I’m irreparably racist and perennially guilty does not. Neoliberalism wins, DEI loses.
This, by the way, is why pro-Palestinians keep losing. They appeal to compassion but that wears off fast. They don’t even try to position their cause as that of strong, resilient people, winners, whose incredible powers will rub off on you if you hang around and ally yourself with their cause. You can’t whine “but don’t have the right” and attract people. It’s off-putting, weak. I come out of all my Ukrainian meetings excited, energized, feeling powerful. That’s what works.
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