John and others,
I'll try to come to this talk if possible, but I think you may be interested
in my impression, based on 38 years (upt to 2005) in a Canadian universirty,
that what I call velvet totalitarianism is coming (gradually) to Australia,
if it is not resisted.
Velvet totalitarian regimes are the same as the well-known regimes like
Hitler's and Stalin's, with the one exception that punishment for holding
unpopular opinions is not death or jail, but merely loss of reputation and
money. Otherwise, the same sor t of fear and self-censoring exists as did
in Hiterl's and Stalin's regimes. Canada now has hate speech laws, speech
codes on almost all campuses that exceed the scope of the hate law, human
rights commissions that act outside the law to enforce hate-speech laws, and
commissar-like "equity officers" in universities who tell faculty what to
teach and whom to hire. For a more detailed account of the Canadian
university scene, see, for example,
http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/furedy/Papers/af/vtcc7_af.doc. For
recent Canadian news about the human rights commissions (that were
originally set up to deal with acts of discrimination, but which now
function to censor and punish opinions that offennd some people), see
http://www.safs.ca/ciccomplaintsmain.html.
All the best,
John
John J. Furedy, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Toronto
Cross appointments: Ege University, Turkey; Bar-Ilan and Haifa
Universities, Israel.
"A life without inquiry is not the life for man."
Email address: [email protected]
Web: http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/~furedy
Now living in Sydney, Australia. Please email for postal address.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Bentley" <[email protected]>
To: "SydPhil Broadcast" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2008 5:22 PM
Subject: [SydPhil] Wed 17 Dec 2008. The proposed Australian internet
cleanfeed is immoral (John Bentley)
Wed 17 Dec 2008 The proposed Australian internet clean feed is immoral
(John Bentley)
It is lamentable that the first line of defence to the proposed Internet
clean feed has come from computer technicians (as technicians). The
proposal
is not limited to blocking child pornography but all illegal content. Even
if the proposed internet clean feed worked, completely and only blocking
illegal content, and not effecting speed, it would be immoral (that which
ought not be done, for the general benefit). Sometimes speech should be,
and
is, justly limited. However, there are many expressions that are presently
illegal which constitute an unjust limit to free speech. It ought not be
illegal to: make historical claims contrary to evidence (eg holocaust
denial); to vilify persons on the basis of race, religion, gender,
sexuality
or other group characteristics; to express or promote hate; to depict
sexual
violence; to make false moral claims which the majority disagree with (eg
advocate sexual violence); to advocate suicide, to advocate terrorism, or
to
express that which is offensive. Furthermore, any content that an adult
should be free to access should be free for a child to access. It ought be
illegal for a parent to limit a child's access to content. All of us,
adult
or child, should have access to content that may harm or disturb us.
Time and Place for Philorum Group @ Central
1st and 3rd Wednesdays of every month.
18:15 for a 18:30 Start. Finish 21:30
(Feel free to come and go at any point during the night.)
The Members Bar, Floor 1
(Keep winding up to the top of the stairs.)
The Gaelic Club
64 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills
Sydney, Australia
(100 metres from a Central railway station exit.)
Cost: Free (Patronise the bar).
http://www.philorum.org/centralFutureCalendar.html
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