The Babbling Bear irregularly publishes satirical samizdat anonymously contributed by loyal Cornell alumni, faculty, staff, and students who are distressed by its takeover by Systemic Totalitarianism imbedded in the New DEI Bureaucracy that is based on the postmodern philosophy that there is no objective truth.
As Hanna Arendt wrote in The Origins of Totalitarianism, “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exists.”
Strongly believing that no rigidly intolerant ideology merits exemption from scrutiny and debate, the Babbling Bear is committed to speaking parody to power. We hope our anti-authoritarian humor emboldens those afraid to speak their minds, reviving the rugged individualism that made our university unique.
As Saul Ailinsky wrote in Rules for Radicals, “Humor is essential, for through humor much is accepted that would have been rejected if presented seriously. This is a sad and lonely generation. It laughs too little, and this, too, is tragic.”
And lastly, Sigmund Freud noted that “the man who first flung a word of abuse at his enemy instead of a spear was the founder of civilization.”
So, seize the opportunity to enjoy a mischievous chuckle, sign up to receive our biting missives by email, and if the muse moves you consider contributing some over-the-top fake stories of your own. Help shine the spotlight on the people and practices inflicting Systemic Totalitarianism on the first American Ivy League University. Submissions chosen by our scrupulously fair and balanced editors applying community standards so transparent you can’t see them will only be accepted under assumed names, as even many of our brilliant tenured professors are afraid to swim against the cultural riptide.
The Babbling Bear is published under a Creative Commons License. We encourage refuseniks at other universities to plagiarize our issues, steal our jokes, and publish satirical samizdat of their own. Don’t ask anyone for permission, just go ahead and put an eye patch on your college mascot, hoist the Jolly Roger of free speech absolutism, and launch your own satire webzine. Join the revolution to take back our minds and liberate our campuses, with an ironic nod to Saul Alinsky’s Rule #5 and a joyous, bellowing … Aargh!