[ajkjk]

I get the impression this is not at all confined to Stanford and is really just everywhere in the country at the moment. Not sure the word 'coward' is right though. Feels more like... people are far more interested in being 'normal' than ever before. Maybe a side effect of there being so much economic opportunity in regular jobs and career trajectories that nobody considers riskier paths?

[roxolotl]

I honestly think it’s the opposite cause. The odds of success have gotten way narrower than they used to be. When kids at Stamford are afraid of failure that says to me that failure is way more likely for everyone. People are taking safe options because the unsafe ones can lead to bottomless pits that even Stanford grads are concerned they cannot climb out of.

[jhatemyjob]

I agree they're right to be scared. The culture has regressed. When I was a teenager / in my early 20s I didn't really believe that was possible, and I thought the older folks were just bitter. But now that I'm older and have a firmer grasp of history (both from what I've read, and my own lived experience) it is so obviously the case that the cracks in this decadent society continue to grow bigger over time. Sadly younger generations will repeat the same error I did and waste their precious time taking poorly calculated risks, trusting the wrong people, and suffering the very real, sometimes permanent, consequences. It's a positive feedback loop that only gets more ruthless as the decades pass. Don't stick your neck out, it's not worth it, freedom of speech isn't real. The silver lining is, freedom of thought is real. There are ways to bend your speech to avoid persecution, and reach the people you want to reach. It's a skill that takes time to master. Some people have mastered it. They have been mentioned by name elsewhere in this thread.