Friday
Oct312008
Say no to 'no platform'
Friday, October 31, 2008 I look forward to seeing some of you at the Battle of Ideas this weekend. Just to remind you, the End of Festival 'FREE SOCIETY' party is on Sunday at Ognisko (The Polish Club), 55 Exhibition Road, South Kensington. Entry to the party is free, and there will be canapes, complimentary drinks and live jazz. From 7.00pm to late.
One of many subjects to be debated over the weekend is 'Free speech on campus'. This is increasingly under attack but, thankfully, some students and academics are beginning to fight back. See THIS feature on The Free Society website.
Reader Comments (1)
This is not just a university problem. It begins at primary school where children have sports days cancelled as no one should be a loser at that age. Then in secondary school exams have been dumbed down to ensure no one feels an academic failure. By university the youth of today are so cosseted that to ask them to think about anything more troubling than who will win Big Brother could cause mental breakdowns.
These students are then leaving university totally unprepared for the real world, where you do fail interviews, you are expected to think for yourself and there is not always a councillor there to rub your back and tell you that all is well.
The standards of education have collapsed. Spelling is all but ignored, mental arithmetic is a thing of the past and studing a foreign language is something that only foreigners do.
The youth of today need to question, debate and rebel as it is part of growing up and part of intellectual developement. How can one say that the BNP etc are wrong if they are never allowed to speak about their believes and policies? Who makes the decision as to who gets a platform or not? Can pro choicers ban pro lifers, can republicans ban monarchists? Who is on the 'right side' in regards to hunting, vivisection, fur trading, dolphins, global warming etc.
Margaret Thatcher tried to ban Sinn Fein from being heard in the eighties and the only beneficiaries other than Sinn Fein were the actors paid to dub the voices. It was viewed rightly as an attack on free speech, in particular because some of those banned from being heard were elected MPs. It seems ironic that the NUS is going down the same route as 'Maggie Thatcher Milk Snatcher'