The old authoritarian, patriarchal, workerist left has disappeared. Today, individuals with the desire to tell others what they can say and think are attracted to a softer, more feminine, anarchist style of politics. They 'confront' people and 'call them out' and say "that's not OK". This soft Stalinism is supported by universities themselves, which are supposed to defend academic freedom - "activism, women and gender studies, ethnic studies, etc.".

Here is a discussion by the Pacifica Forum's 'soft' critics, the ones who eschew violence

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=287466056216&topic=14541

referring to an article on a libertarian student website defending the Forum's free speech rights

http://www.oregoncommentator.com/2010/02/03/learning-from-the-pacifica-forum/

    `I take issue with this talk about "playing the 'safety' card." In my mind, that diminishes the fear that some people legitimately feel. Safety is not a "card" that can be played. It is not something that is thrown around carelessly or used to manipulate others. The people who feel unsafe have a right to feel that way, and it is a very serious matter for them. Using that terminology to describe the feelings of others surrounding very serious issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, rape, etc seems very minimizing and offensive.`

    `Many sexual assault and rape cases do not meet the "legal definition of rape" because they do not fall within the stereotypical view of what rape looks like--but that doesnt mean that that person wasn't raped. So just because something can't be fault legally, doesnt mean it isn't happening or that it isn't just as valid. (not to mention, laws have been wrong/unjust in the past and the people had to rise up to change them, so I dont think social justice issues should always be left in the hands of the law)`

    `Its this idea that when I hear someone saying something homophobic (like that's so gay) or something sexist, I need to confront them. I need to make it known that what that person said is not okay. When people make rape jokes or say bigotted things, they are contributing to a society in which those things are normalized. If you take any sort of class in activism, women and gender studies, ethnic studies, etc, you learn this. Hateful speech has to be confronted (and that can occur in many different forms depending on the situation) because otherwise those issues in our society will never be resolved. To me, this is exactly what we're doing with the Pacifica Forum. Its just like when I confront the sexist things someone is saying, except that this is on a larger scale. This isn't just one person confronting another person, its a group confronting a group--but the reasons for why it is so important are the same. When a mother yells at a kid for swearing, no one complains about the kid's free speech. When I confront someone who calls another person a fag, no one yells about free speech. This is the same issue.`

It's tempting to laugh at this, but it can have serious implications. Mass hysteria has led in the past to false convictions for sex crimes. PC leftism was manipulated in the sixties and seventies to turn radicals against each other and weaken opposition to the Vietnam war.