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Three prominent Yale professors depart for Canadian university, citing Trump fears
(yaledailynews.com)
this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
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Their career is being targeted, their position of being a really influential and highly regarded tenured professor is being targeted. But having this career is not a human rights, it‘s a privilege. And they can use this privilege to protect weaker members of society, like students whose rights are actually threatened.
If Norman Finkelstein is not in danger then they are definitely not in danger.
Again I ask: what do you suggest they do that they cannot do from Canada?
They could stay at Yale, they could keep writing and doing research to their best conscience, and then make as much noise as possible if someone tries to stop them.
They could help organize, help protest when academic freedoms are being attacked, or anything else, except flee at the slightest bit of resistance.
Bernie Sanders and AOC have shown that there are tens of thousands of people in almost every US city willing to get onto the streets to resist Trump. So they will not be alone, and then if things get really hairy, then they can flee.
And besides that, they are the self-proclaimed fascist experts, so they should be able to think of many more effective strategies to resist authoritarianism. But I doubt any of their proscribed strategies is for the elite to pack their bags at the first inconvenience.
Thank you for a good reply, but I'll still push back on your general conclusion. They can do nearly all of that from Canada, the only exception that they won't face arrest for doing so.
The larger point: I think "slightest bit" is way underselling what we've seen over the last couple months. Attacks on the academic systems, legal systems, and of course on the most vulnerable people in society. I think we're already at "really hairy", and waiting to "flee" until the administration is executing professors in the street is too late.
To make a different point: not everyone can do their best resisting while under serious pressure. Not everyone is a fighter. We need medics, we need logistics, we need reporters, we need people abroad supporting us. If they can't handle the pressure, but will keep up the flight from afar, then more power to them. It doesn't necessarily make them cowards, but cognizant of their own needs and how they can best help. Maybe they are fleeing out of cowardice, but the point I'm trying to make is that it isn't a given.