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The Forum > Article Comments > Freedom to think > Comments

Freedom to think : Comments

By Steven Schwartz, published 14/1/2022

Universities face a fatal choice. They can acquiesce to the demands of censorious staff and students or reject intolerance and bullying.

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"Universities face a fatal choice. They can acquiesce to the demands of censorious staff and students or reject intolerance and bullying".

They faced it well before now, and they have done nothing. They continue to either be bullied by staff and students, or they actually condone the Marxist thuggery and intolerance.

They should have lost all taxpayer funds by now, if we had decent politicians. They need to go private and see how long they last, earning their own 'freedom' and money. They try to deny others the freedom to speak, and gutless governments are paying them to do so. Very ABC-like.
Posted by ttbn, Friday, 14 January 2022 9:38:04 AM
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For those who have worked inside universities, the authors concerns/examples are the tip of the iceberg. The arrogance of politically correct(now wokeness) narcists now dominate University administrations. Academic freedom has always been despised by administrators and politicians, but now it is being challenged by those predominantly form the left who want to ban anyone who does not agree with them. In the passed, they used their power of internal and external grant bodies to stifle alternate views via the power of cutting off funds.

NOW they just say that someone's alternate views offend them or some fake/contrived minority group and before you know it the offending " alternative thinker" is ostracized.

This is not the university environment generations have fought for, but a mere superficial vehicles for censorship and indoctrination!

By definition, Universities should not even be allowed to call themselves universities, based on the direction over the last 3 decades re overseas student funds, standards, wokeness and censorship!
Posted by Alison Jane, Friday, 14 January 2022 10:30:15 AM
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ttbn,
spot-on !
Posted by individual, Friday, 14 January 2022 10:30:55 AM
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Academic freedom has always been despised by administrators and politicians,
Alison Jane,
Why ? Because Universities have never been 'free", their blatant dependence on public funding has & always will be the one issue (apart from the indoctrination that goes on) making them a pain for all who would like to see their taxes put to better use.
The rather tiny circle of actually useful to society graduates could easily & willingly be funded by the Taxpayer.
It's the bulk of the far too many of useless & pointless graduates that are the proverbial spanner in the gears of society.
Posted by individual, Friday, 14 January 2022 10:39:37 AM
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Western universities have always been the servants and apologists for political power. They are places where the various administrators were trained to manage and justify the political powers that be/were in their time and place. Including the so called theologians whose purpose was to support the "religious" justifications of the empire.

The situation is of course now much more extreme where there is a seamless web of interconnections between the military-industrial-complex and the academy.
A web which includes both the hard, and the soft sciences too including psychology and anthropology the insights of which are used to bolster the 24/7 propaganda machine. The Pentagon has a huge influence on the contents of Hollywood movies.

Why not check out an essay titled: The University and the Security State The Pentagon & the CIA on Campus.

And the books by Henry Giroux beginning with The University in Chains The Military-Industrial-Academic-Complex, and Neoliberalisms War on Higher Education.

Meanwhile check out this outfit http://gcas.ie which is a privately sponsored university that openly questions the powers that be.
Posted by Daffy Duck, Friday, 14 January 2022 3:23:26 PM
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Freedom to think has never been the issue, just the current attempt to control thinking by those with the purse strings. Remember it's not their money but taxpayers funds! And our Universities were far better institutions when that was exactly that! And fully funded! Now they are business models that need foreign students, their money and transferable infections to survive.

Simply put, what ain't broken never ever needs fixing.

It has been the endless control freak fixing that has rooted a good model and freedom to think!

What comes next? A Nazi style burning of books!?

Just to satisfy a tiny vocal minority of right wing airheads who think academia is just a waste of money!?
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Friday, 14 January 2022 3:23:43 PM
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