How Much Are You Willing To Sacrifice?

A classic case of lefties who want others to give something up--but not them, of course!  Make the other guy pay for their beliefs!

In late January, students occupied the campus’s courtyard in protest of the school’s £8 million investment in the fossil fuel industry. The school owns several shares in the oil companies, BP and Shell. The demonstrators refused to move unless the demands of divestment were met in the name of halting climate change, reported The Harvard Crimson.

Two students wrote to Bursar Andrew Parker, expressing their insistence that the college “declares a climate emergency and immediately divests from fossil fuels,” The Times of London reported. Parker’s response made international headlines.

“I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice,” he wrote back to the students. “But, I can arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect. Please let me know if you support this proposal.”

Ankit Ranjan, a biomedicine undergraduate, replied by stating that he would put the offer up to the students, but that he suspected that the bursar was being sarcastic. “I think [the offer] will reflect poorly on the college,” he wrote back.

The bursar replied: “You are right that I am being provocative but I am provoking some clear thinking, I hope. It is all too easy to request others to do things that carry no personal cost to yourself. The question is whether you and others are prepared to make personal sacrifices to achieve the goals of environmental improvement (which I support as a goal.)”

Parker told The Times that his offer was “more of a rhetorical question” and that more could be done to help the environment “if everyone stops and thinks before emitting slogans.” But now, American Ivy League professors are speaking out against Parker and condemning his response that they say was filled with “self-righteousness” and “ignorance.”

It's the protesters who are filled with self-righteousness and ignorance, and they and their allies don't like being called out on it.