Tuesday, May 26, 2015

SHUT THEM UP!

Isn't Spiked supposed to be a left wing magazine? I was under that impression so was surprised to see them running this article criticizing increasing efforts among the college community to shut down what are felt as politically incorrect ideas:

"Duke University responded: ‘The comments were noxious, offensive, and have no place in civil discourse.’. But if Hough’s comments are racist, repugnant or simply incorrect, should we dismiss them as unfit even to discuss, let alone debate or refute?".

The author does seem left leaning himself. He just thinks non- PC ideas should be refuted, rather than simply silenced. I'll give him a thumbs up for that. He's a rare one indeed- a voice in the wilderness- but the movement to shut down non- popular thought on college campuses will likely continue unabated.

Addendum: The comments to the article are a good read, too.

2 Comments:

At 2:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fred, your view of progressives is seriously skewed if you think we don't encourage a free exchange of ideas. Don't judge an entire class of people by a few oddballs.

 
At 6:05 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

I don't think so at all. If I've ever heard anyone suggesting squelching other opinions, it's the progressive/liberals.

I've seen it time and again in the Times- Standard. Letters to the editor suggesting certain opinions shouldn't be given an airing. The most recent that comes to mind being "progressive" Sylvia De Rooy, who castigated the T-S for running a piece by Tim Martin when he suggested environmentalists needed to lighten up a bit.

Her comment to Martin's commentary, to paraphrase: "How can you print this rubbish". And that's about all she wrote. My reply, in the comments: Sure, Sylvia, we just want to read opinions that agree with yours.

She didn't reply.

 

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