Dr. Phil Blasts Woke Culture, Laments America’s Demise

Dr. Phil McGraw. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Commentary

Dr. Phil McGraw recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Bill Maher. The two men discussed a whole host of topics, including cannabis use (Maher is for it; Dr. Phil is not) and marriage. On the topic of marriage, like two bucks in a field, the men repeatedly clashed heads.

For the uninitiated, Maher, 67, has never been married. Throughout his career, the comedian has repeatedly ridiculed the idea of long-term, committed relationships, as well as the idea of starting a family. Dr. Phil, a man who has been married for almost 50 years, pushed back, telling Maher that he feels blessed to have met his wife, Robin, to have fathered two children, and to now be a grandfather. After discussing marriage, the two men moved on to the topic of culture. More specifically, college culture. This topic appeared to awaken something inside America’s most prominent clinical psychologist. In short, viewers witnessed a side of Dr. Phil that they had never witnessed before.

Known for remaining neutral on hot-button cultural issues, Dr. Phil, 72, sounded the alarm on the “woke” agenda being pushed on college campuses. Maher, never known for remaining neutral on hot-button cultural issues, was quick to agree, condemning the “insanity” that now consumes the world of higher education.

Dr. Phil, who recently ended his 21-year reign as the king of daytime TV, told Maher that he was particularly concerned about the “indoctrination” taking place on college campuses. He also discussed the fact that those attending college today appear to be less informed, less capable, and less employable than college-attending folk of yesteryears.

Before, said Dr. Phil, when interviewing two potential candidates for a job, one with a degree and one without a degree, he almost always hired the candidate with the degree. Why? Because he knew that they possessed genuinely desirable qualities. For example, he knew that they could probably meet deadlines, that they had the skills to work on their own and work in groups, that they could listen to and digest various opinions, and so on. Those days, however, added the psychologist, are long gone. Most Americans agree. So does Maher. The host nodded in agreement, taking aim at the increase in worthless degrees being offered across America.

Descent Into Madness

In 2018, the author David Graeber wrote a rather compelling book that examined the rise of meaningless jobs as well as the psychological and economic harms these jobs were causing. Has there ever been a better time for a book discussing America’s recent obsession with meaningless degrees? After all, the demand for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) degrees continues to rise. The same goes for degrees in critical race theory (CRT) and social justice.

Universities used to be serious places, where people discussed serious issues and studied serious topics. Not anymore. In addition to the scourge of nonsensical degrees, Dr. Phil discussed the rise of “thin-skinned” college students, young men and women unwilling to consider differing opinions. This is a problem that’s only going to get worse. As I recently noted, free speech on college campuses continues to die the most brutal of deaths. The attacks have been occurring for years. Worryingly, they’re becoming more vicious in nature.

Of course, what happens on college campuses, doesn’t stay on college campuses. Students graduate. They enter the workforce, and they take their ideals and proclivities with them. The students of today are the employees, bosses, teachers, professors, and politicians of tomorrow. In many ways, the United States is becoming one big college campus, with fewer and fewer people able to speak openly and honestly. This fact is not lost on Dr. Phil. The author and TV personality finished the interview by comparing modern-day America to George Orwell’s Oceania, one of the three superstates discussed in “1984.” The comparison is eerily accurate.

As many readers will surely recall, Orwell’s Oceania represented the party’s total control over the people. Control over their movements, and control over their minds. In Oceania manipulation of the masses was common, and attempts to resist such manipulation often proved to be futile. Of course, one can’t discuss Oceania without discussing Newspeak, the only language spoken in the superstate. Today, lamented Dr. Phil, America has its own form of Newspeak.

“All of this energy that’s being put into pronouns,” he concluded, and most kids “don’t even know what a pronoun is. ... It’s gotten ridiculous.”

You’re right, Dr. Phil, it has.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.