Letter to Babson College's President Stephen Spinelli in Defense of Prof. Asheen Phansey

Dear President Spinelli:

I urge you to reconsider the firing of Asheen Phansey.  I hold diametrically opposite views to Prof. Phansey’s, but more important considerations of freedom of speech and academic freedom should be given priority over matters of taste and opinion.  Even if Prof. Phansey hadn’t been joking, firing him for his views would still have been a mistake.  Recall John Stuart Mill: “If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” Mill’s position is central to anything resembling a free society, but it is even more important to academic culture because without freedom of speech and the freedom to make mistakes, innovation and creativity die. 



Sincerely,




Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.


Postscript: See FIRE's piece on Professor Phansey here.

My Panel Talk at the Queens Village Republican Club

The Queens Village Republican Club, the country's oldest Republican club, invited me to participate in a three-professor panel about higher education reform.  The chair of the club, Phil Orenstein, is an old friend.  The meeting was on January 2, 2020.  There were about 100 members in the audience--an enthusiastic group of strong Trump supporters--an oasis in the authoritarian wasteland that was New York City. Phil told me that the club has about 200 dues-paying members. The talk went well, and I made many new friends.

Queens VIllage Republican Club Invites Me to Participate in Higher Ed Panel

The Queens Village Republican Club, the country's oldest Republican club, has asked me to participate in a panel on higher education at their monthly meeting on January 2. As well, I wrote an op-ed for their newsletter, The Queens Village Eagle.   They have about 200 dues-paying members.  The meeting will be at the Holliswood Jewish Center, 86-25 Francis Lewis Boulevard, Holliswood, NY 11427.

Win-Win Gains from a Libertarian Party Cross-Nomination of President Trump

 Dear Mr. President:

Have you thought of negotiating a cross-nomination deal with the Libertarian National Committee?

I am a lifelong supporter of Libertarian Party candidates.  I have since concluded that you can do more to further the cause of freedom than the LP can, so I will support and have been supporting you and the NRCC over the past couple of years.  Why not negotiate the LP's cross nomination of you in 2020?

The following chart shows that the LP won 2.2% to 4.15% in the six battleground states, more than enough to put you well over the top.

Battleground States/ LP Percentage

Florida                    /          2.20%
Wisconsin               /          3.60%
Pennsylvania         /         2.40%
Michigan               /          3.60%
New Hampshire    /         4.15%
Nevada                 /             3.30%

Although I have not been active in the LP since 1983, I can imagine at least two bargaining chips that can result in mutual gains for both parties: first, an agreement to abolish a set of government agencies and programs that you don't mind abolishing (they want to abolish everything) and, second, an offer of placing Libertarians in powerful agency posts in which they can gut government programs.  In exchange, they would throw you the percentages that secure a win.

For example, if you offer to abolish the Department of Education and a list of fluff that Rand Paul or Citizens Against Government Waste provides in exchange for LP support and/or offer them a dozen positions in areas like the NLRB, and EPA, they may be willing to make a deal. You would likely have an additional benefit by having people in positions of power who are hostile to the deep state and have little to lose in attacking it.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.