While the risk-averse policies of universities have long been open to abuse, it is students’ unions that have done the most to popularise the illiberal logic the government is now adopting. Over the past few years, censorious student activism has hit new and ridiculous heights. Take one look at the NUS-led clampdown on lad culture – which recently received government approval – and you can see where Dave has been getting his ideas from. SU bans on rugby teams, lads’ mags and pop songs, all in the name of protecting women from offence and dunderheaded men from coming under the influence of a mythical ‘rape culture’, chime perfectly with Cameron’s insistence that we should clamp down, not only on terrorist views, but on those ‘intolerant ideas which create a climate in which extremists can flourish’. He may as well have called it terror culture.
So don’t be fooled by these hypocrites and opportunists. If we want to fight for free speech on campus, we need to take on the illiberal views of blue-haired campus nutjobs as well as doublespeak Dave. And if you want to join the real fightback, check out our Down With Campus Censorship! campaign today.
– Tom Slater for Spiked.
Or if you are in the U.S. and Mommy and Daddy are forking over $65,000 a year at Southwest Marxist State College and the poor little snowflake hears something that hurts them thus forcing cultural Marxist speech codes there’s this:
https://www.thefire.org/fire-guides/fires-guide-to-free-speech-on-campus-3/read-online/
John – as you know the reason for high tuition costs is the government subsidy of American universities (a process of subsidies pushing up costs which even David Ricardo understood – but which the media pretends not to understand).
It is no longer denied that the evil that took firm control of American universities in the 1960s (if not long before) has had terrible effects on policy and attitudes – including (de facto) on Freedom of Speech.
However, there are still people in Britain who deny that what goes on in the universities is important.
To them I have two words.
Tom Watson.
This Student Union boss is now Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
And anyone who thinks that Tom Watson is just against “Murdoch” is wrong – flat wrong.
Tom Watson wants to exterminate Freedom of Speech – the idea of any radio or television stations (or newspapers) presenting a view of the world fundamentally different from that of the left – is unacceptable to him.
Mr Watson thinks that any view of the world fundamentally different from his own is “bigoted” (see his attacks on Glenn Beck – even though Mr Beck does not even broadcast in Britain) and should not be allowed.
Which, of course, is really bigoted.
And the legion of real bigots behind Mr Watson is vast.
This Legion of Evil is the true product of the modern “education system”.
Does blue hair say something specific about the head underneath, as opposed to, say, green or purple hair?
I think I have said it before, but isn’t one of the key purposes of Universities to expose kids to ideas that are different, shocking and offensive to their sensibilities so that they can grow intellectually? Isn’t exposure to views you oppose the very basis for intellectual growth?
Yeah, well. University undergrads. University grads. Not much to choose, is there? Whadya expect from the “too bone idle & thick to get a proper job” fraternity? The sound you hear is the world’s smallest violin in concert mode.
The problem with FIRE is that they will push to get a policy reversed, but not to get those responsible for it fired or jailed. That makes FIRE an annoyance to the censors, but not a deterrent.
Winning the same battle over and over again means you are losing the war.
You know, the presence of men on campus probably disturbs women. We need gendered Unis!
Though I think that the real question is- why do we still have Universities in the age of the internet? Why don’t we just modernise all education? Home self-schooling. That would bring back the shock at teacher-student affairs!