LETTERS
The Professor's Responsibility Editor: The issues between me and Mr. Hoff man (DISSENT, July—August 1966), each as representatives of points of view, are so important, I believe, both for...
...Suppose I am a psychologist—an IQ "expert...
...And from that position, begin a more general scheme of rollback, if it is at all possible...
...Hoff man (DISSENT, July—August 1966), each as representatives of points of view, are so important, I believe, both for the fate of academia and the moral texture of our society, that I think space and time for a reply are justified...
...And incite first my fellowprofessionals to refuse...
...I am sure that in doing so, I would be robbing industry of my help in placement and clients of help in getting non-fatally placed (d...
...b. If the professor won't grade, some "high-grade" students will be drafted in place of some low-grade ones...
...And, if this is not allowed (g)—must I not leave my profession rather than participate directly, especially if, in the short run, I cannot get the whole scheme abandoned...
...Surely not...
...The Professor's Responsibility Editor: The issues between me and Mr...
...e. Moreover, he is robbing all students of other competitive benefits of grading...
...Is it really true that I am morally forced to cooperate (or go through an empty ritual of self-purification...
...But what can I then not be forced to do...
...Suppose the state determines that low-grade morons are expendable (whether by genocide, as in Germany, or by sending them away to perish on "virgin lands" or in "foreign wars...
...In this conjuncture, as a professional educator, I propose to draw the line where the state invades and destroys, in a radically new manner, what possibilities of education are left...
...Let me analogize...
...Let me also reply briefly...
...f. Things are no better if universities refuse to report...
...h. Therefore: Stay in society and work to end the war, abolish the draft or abolish student deferments...
...I take (a) and (b) for granted...
...Suppose they require not their openly labelled hirelings, but psychologists in educational or private practice to furnish IQ data for their manhunt...
...If a doctor, help select the weak for extermination lest otherwise the state select the strong...
...Let all else follow...
...g. Nor if the Professor withdraws from teaching—unless he continues the process of withdrawal from all war-involved activity to the point of total social exile, itself the ultimate in social immorality...
...I cannot—perhaps wrongly—take (c) and (d) seriously...
...Let me restate his argument briefly: a. The numbers of students to be drafted will be unaffected by any or all professors' grading or refusing to grade...
...or at random...
...c. The professor is thus selecting by not selecting...
...And, moreover, I believe that, if taken seriously, they undermine all that stands between this society and a totalitarian one...
...On the ground that otherwise the state may or will, by error or out of pique, seize and destroy the higher IQ'd...
...And suppose their need—for war, land-development, or permanent anaesthesia—is a constant number...
...And that refusal to cooperate is an interference by me against the higher IQ'd...
...Surely, I must refuse...
...But this is surely a small price to pay...
...And for those who wish to end the war, and/or abolish the draft, and/or work for the abolition of student deferment, I take it that they will pursue (h) with vigor and passion and skill— even while they may wish and work to save the educational enterprise from further corruption...
...Let us roll back from there...
...d. He has thus interfered against "high-grade" students...
Vol. 13 • September 1966 • No. 5
