Michael Ejercito
2017-09-15 14:37:08 UTC
The Thought Police Strike Again
by Giulio Meotti
September 15, 2017 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10388/thought-police
This politically correct nonsense highlights even further the
infantilization of our culture -- such as the demand for "safe spaces" and
"trigger warnings". It may look like a comedy, but its effect is deadly
serious.
Groupthink is a debilitating force. in any civilization. It undermines one's
ability to resist the real enemies of democracy and freedom: it makes us
blind to radical Islam and jihadi terrorism, and it gives the impression
that our society is a joke.
Instead of being intellectually diverse, universities are trying their
utmost to impose homogeneity of thoughts and ideas. So-called "right wing
newspapers" are banned from certain universities. Recently, at the City
University of London, the student union, devoid of irony, fascistically
voted to ban some conservative tabloids in order to "oppose fascism".
Headlines every day proclaim the new religion: political correctness,
cultural vandalism and censorship -- not from Islamic emirates such as Saudi
Arabia, but in Western cities right here.
The Writers Union of Canada, for instance, recently apologized for a
magazine editorial that defended the right of novelists to create characters
from a backgrounds other than their own.
Just think of that: a writer defending the right to use one's imagination?!
What an insult! At least, to "the new Stalinists" it is.
"In my opinion anyone, anywhere, should be encouraged to imagine other
peoples, other cultures, other identities," Hal Niedzviecki, who was the
editor of the union's magazine, Write, defended freedom in an editorial. The
Union then announced that Niedzviecki had resigned.
Another journalist also fell victim to this new religion. Jonathan Kay also
recently resigned as editor of the magazine The Walrus. Defending
Niedzviecki's right to use his imagination cost Kay his job.
Their unspeakable crime was, it appears, "cultural appropriation" -- one of
the new "groupthink" expressions that the theologian Paul Griffiths
condemned as "illiberal and totalitarian". Griffiths, too, had to resign
from Duke University after criticizing his colleagues for a "diversity
program" that "provides foundational training in understanding historical
and institutional racism."
Every revolution needs to master a new "language" to achieve uniformity of
expression and thought. George Orwell, in 1984, called the replacement
language "Newspeak".
Cardiff Metropolitan University, one of the largest in Britain, compiled a
list of 34 words that it "encouraged" teachers and students to stop using,
and replaced them with "gender-neutral" terms. "Fireman" should be replaced
by "firefighter"; "mankind" should be replaced by banned "humanity", and so
on. Princeton University also expunged the word "man" in its various uses,
in favor of supposedly more "inclusive" expressions. City University of New
York decided to ban "Mr." and "Mrs." California State University replaced
commercial terms such as "businessman", "mailman", "manpower" and "salesman"
to avoid that horrendous, forbidden word.
While at it, why not also purge Christianity's religious language? Some of
the most famous theological universities, such as Duke and Vanderbilt,
invited professors and staff to use "inclusive" language even when they are
referring to God, because the masculine pronouns are "a cornerstone of
patriarchy".
This politically correct nonsense highlights even further the
infantilization of our culture -- such as the demand for "safe spaces" and
"trigger warnings". It may look like comedy, but its effect is deadly
serious. British philosopher Roger Scruton has said that a kind of "moral
obesity" is crippling Western culture.
Groupthink is a debilitating force. in any civilization. It undermines one's
ability to resist the real enemies of democracy and freedom: it makes us
blind to radical Islam and jihadi terrorism, and it gives the impression
that our society is a joke.
That is why Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, whose novel 2084 depicted a
dystopian state governed by religious law, said "literature and arts are not
playing a big role in this struggle against barbarism". Those writers are,
instead, far too busy implementing political correctness.
Universities in Britain are now even holding workshops to "deal with right
wing attitudes in the classroom". Instead of being intellectually diverse,
universities are trying their utmost to impose homogeneity of thoughts and
ideas. So-called "right wing newspapers" are banned from certain
universities. Recently, the at the City University of London, the student
union, devoid of irony, fascistically voted to ban some conservative
tabloids in order to "oppose fascism".
Dozens of personalities, conservative and liberal alike, have been prevented
from speaking on many U.S. campuses. This is just a short list: Milo
Yiannopoulos, Janet Napolitano, George Will, Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine
Albright, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Henry Kissinger, Christine Lagarde, Charles
Murray and Jason Riley.
First, students asked to limit freedom of expression to a specific place on
campus. Then they started issuing declarations about no rights to free
speech. Finally, in a crescendo of hysteria, they ended up throwing
firebombs. How can we pretend that freedom of expression in the West is
protected -- from fascism, Islamism, anything -- when we restrict it in our
universities?
When the "politically incorrect" commentator and writer Milo Yiannopoulos
was due to speak at the University of California, Berkeley on February 1,
2017, a mob of 150 people proceeded to riot, smash and set fires, causing
more than $100,000 of damage. (Image source: RT video screenshot)
A few weeks ago, the 2017 Whitney Biennal in New York opened with a protest
in front of a painting by the American-born artist Dana Schutz. The picture
depicted Emmett Till, a boy lynched by racists in Mississippi in 1955. More
than 25 black artists signed an open letter, written by the artist Hannah
Black, to the Whitney's curators and staff, asking that the painting be
removed from the Biennial, allegedly because "the painting uses black
suffering for "profit and fun'". Ms. Black also asked that the painting be
"destroyed and not entered into any market or museum".
That request not only aimed at censoring different ideas, but, like the
Grand Inquisitor, of destroying the "wrong thought". The new religion --
featuring political correctness, cultural vandalism and censorship -- is
dismantling the West.
Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.
by Giulio Meotti
September 15, 2017 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10388/thought-police
This politically correct nonsense highlights even further the
infantilization of our culture -- such as the demand for "safe spaces" and
"trigger warnings". It may look like a comedy, but its effect is deadly
serious.
Groupthink is a debilitating force. in any civilization. It undermines one's
ability to resist the real enemies of democracy and freedom: it makes us
blind to radical Islam and jihadi terrorism, and it gives the impression
that our society is a joke.
Instead of being intellectually diverse, universities are trying their
utmost to impose homogeneity of thoughts and ideas. So-called "right wing
newspapers" are banned from certain universities. Recently, at the City
University of London, the student union, devoid of irony, fascistically
voted to ban some conservative tabloids in order to "oppose fascism".
Headlines every day proclaim the new religion: political correctness,
cultural vandalism and censorship -- not from Islamic emirates such as Saudi
Arabia, but in Western cities right here.
The Writers Union of Canada, for instance, recently apologized for a
magazine editorial that defended the right of novelists to create characters
from a backgrounds other than their own.
Just think of that: a writer defending the right to use one's imagination?!
What an insult! At least, to "the new Stalinists" it is.
"In my opinion anyone, anywhere, should be encouraged to imagine other
peoples, other cultures, other identities," Hal Niedzviecki, who was the
editor of the union's magazine, Write, defended freedom in an editorial. The
Union then announced that Niedzviecki had resigned.
Another journalist also fell victim to this new religion. Jonathan Kay also
recently resigned as editor of the magazine The Walrus. Defending
Niedzviecki's right to use his imagination cost Kay his job.
Their unspeakable crime was, it appears, "cultural appropriation" -- one of
the new "groupthink" expressions that the theologian Paul Griffiths
condemned as "illiberal and totalitarian". Griffiths, too, had to resign
from Duke University after criticizing his colleagues for a "diversity
program" that "provides foundational training in understanding historical
and institutional racism."
Every revolution needs to master a new "language" to achieve uniformity of
expression and thought. George Orwell, in 1984, called the replacement
language "Newspeak".
Cardiff Metropolitan University, one of the largest in Britain, compiled a
list of 34 words that it "encouraged" teachers and students to stop using,
and replaced them with "gender-neutral" terms. "Fireman" should be replaced
by "firefighter"; "mankind" should be replaced by banned "humanity", and so
on. Princeton University also expunged the word "man" in its various uses,
in favor of supposedly more "inclusive" expressions. City University of New
York decided to ban "Mr." and "Mrs." California State University replaced
commercial terms such as "businessman", "mailman", "manpower" and "salesman"
to avoid that horrendous, forbidden word.
While at it, why not also purge Christianity's religious language? Some of
the most famous theological universities, such as Duke and Vanderbilt,
invited professors and staff to use "inclusive" language even when they are
referring to God, because the masculine pronouns are "a cornerstone of
patriarchy".
This politically correct nonsense highlights even further the
infantilization of our culture -- such as the demand for "safe spaces" and
"trigger warnings". It may look like comedy, but its effect is deadly
serious. British philosopher Roger Scruton has said that a kind of "moral
obesity" is crippling Western culture.
Groupthink is a debilitating force. in any civilization. It undermines one's
ability to resist the real enemies of democracy and freedom: it makes us
blind to radical Islam and jihadi terrorism, and it gives the impression
that our society is a joke.
That is why Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, whose novel 2084 depicted a
dystopian state governed by religious law, said "literature and arts are not
playing a big role in this struggle against barbarism". Those writers are,
instead, far too busy implementing political correctness.
Universities in Britain are now even holding workshops to "deal with right
wing attitudes in the classroom". Instead of being intellectually diverse,
universities are trying their utmost to impose homogeneity of thoughts and
ideas. So-called "right wing newspapers" are banned from certain
universities. Recently, the at the City University of London, the student
union, devoid of irony, fascistically voted to ban some conservative
tabloids in order to "oppose fascism".
Dozens of personalities, conservative and liberal alike, have been prevented
from speaking on many U.S. campuses. This is just a short list: Milo
Yiannopoulos, Janet Napolitano, George Will, Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine
Albright, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Henry Kissinger, Christine Lagarde, Charles
Murray and Jason Riley.
First, students asked to limit freedom of expression to a specific place on
campus. Then they started issuing declarations about no rights to free
speech. Finally, in a crescendo of hysteria, they ended up throwing
firebombs. How can we pretend that freedom of expression in the West is
protected -- from fascism, Islamism, anything -- when we restrict it in our
universities?
When the "politically incorrect" commentator and writer Milo Yiannopoulos
was due to speak at the University of California, Berkeley on February 1,
2017, a mob of 150 people proceeded to riot, smash and set fires, causing
more than $100,000 of damage. (Image source: RT video screenshot)
A few weeks ago, the 2017 Whitney Biennal in New York opened with a protest
in front of a painting by the American-born artist Dana Schutz. The picture
depicted Emmett Till, a boy lynched by racists in Mississippi in 1955. More
than 25 black artists signed an open letter, written by the artist Hannah
Black, to the Whitney's curators and staff, asking that the painting be
removed from the Biennial, allegedly because "the painting uses black
suffering for "profit and fun'". Ms. Black also asked that the painting be
"destroyed and not entered into any market or museum".
That request not only aimed at censoring different ideas, but, like the
Grand Inquisitor, of destroying the "wrong thought". The new religion --
featuring political correctness, cultural vandalism and censorship -- is
dismantling the West.
Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.