As we have had occasion to observe in the past, one of the unacknowledged and paradoxical side effects of the campaign for diversity is an increasingly severe effort to enforce strict conformity on any contentious issue. We say that this is paradoxical, but in fact it follows clearly from the emotional wellspring of the campaign for diversity, “affirmative action,” etc.—namely the conviction that one is fighting for the imposition of virtue while one’s opponents are benighted troglodytes ensnared by brutal self-interest. This has been a familiar scenario from time immemorial, and especially since the French Revolution when, inspired by the hothouse theories of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, insurrectionists like Robespierre, St. Just, and “Gracchus” Babeuf huddled under the banner of virtue while pursuing their murderous course.

The arrogance of virtue is not always murderous, but it is always coercive and repellent. Americ ...

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