The Woke are after Pinker again, and if he's called a racist and misogynist, as he is in this latest attempt to demonize him, then
nobody is safe. After all, Pinker is a liberal Democrat who's donated a lot of dosh to the Democratic Party, and relentlessly preaches a message of moral, material, and "well-being" progress that's been attained through reason and adherence to Enlightenment values. But that sermon alone is enough to render him an Unperson, for the Woke prize narrative and "lived experience" over data, denigrate reason, and absolutely despise the Enlightenment.
The link to the document in question, "
Open Letter to the Linguistic Society of America," was tweeted yesterday by Pinker's fellow linguist John McWhorter, who clearly dislikes the letter. And, indeed, the letter is worthy of Stalinism in its distortion of the facts in trying to damage the career of an opponent. At least they don't call for Pinker to be shot in the cellars of the Lubyanka!
After I read the letter and decided to respond to it, I contacted Steve, asking him questions, and he gave me permission to quote some of his answers, which were sent in an email. (Steve, by the way, has never asked me to defend him; I do so in this case because of the mendacity of the letter.)
Comment: There does seem to be some logic to the theory. The trick is how to get 'from here to there'.