Free Speech on Campus In Our Lifetime? Not If They Can Help It. - Granite Grok

Free Speech on Campus In Our Lifetime? Not If They Can Help It.

I stumbled across an article by Fred Lucas titled, “Supreme Court decisions could curb campus censorship.”

Lucas shares some insights into recent court decisions that might reach their tendrils into the collection and use of student activity fees and the relationship between those expenditures and viewpoint discrimination. Fingers crossed but every path leading to that goal will require a grueling uphill battle.

A reference Lucas includes to remarks in an American Association of University Professor report tells us why.

“Even if the current political environment poses significant problems for free speech, the view that the free exchange of ideas no longer occurs on campuses is grossly exaggerated,” the AAUP’s April report concludes. “Many of the most difficult issues surrounding free speech at present are about balancing unobstructed dialogue with the need to make all constituencies on campus feel included.”

Balancing unobstructed dialogue with the need to make all constituencies on campus feel included?

First of all, about those professorisms, unobstructed dialogue? Stop obstructing them. Done.

Second, the thing about actual Free Speech is that regardless of the constituency to which you belong (or have been herded by Marxist Professors) the right applies equally.

The balance already exists. Stop f***ing it up!

Without regard to race, creed, color, faith, national origin, biology, age, sex, height, weight, interests, or any other thing you can think of to separate us into “constituencies” we are all people whose expressions are protected by the first amendment with but a few rare exceptions, none of which has anything to do with the groups into which we have been corralled (or in too many cases, mustered).

It is only when the Professors*, and the University who enable them, use cultural Marxism, Political correctness, manufactured victim classes (peopled by easily triggered acolytes), object to a political climate that includes ideas to which they object that we have a problem.

*We could add to our list of professors the press (which is willing to give itself its own exception at the expense of other forms of speech) and one political party in particular to whom the Marxist Professors all (coincidentally) belong.

We could have an open dialogue if you ideological douchebags would screwing it up.

In the absence of what on the lighter side might be called interference (more accurately referred to as institutional intimidation, suppression, compelled speech, and viewpoint discrimination) College Campuses could be a place where the free exchange of views happens.

It can’t. Not without the imposition of legal force. The Marxist professors and the Administrations who enable them don’t want to have to compete. Democrat Socialism will not brook competition of anything not the least of which is the ideas that justify the tyranny and plunder required to sustain it.

So, while decisions like Janus may inevitably pull a thread that unravels a corner of the speech smothering cultural-elite campus cardigan, it won’t be without both a fight and a revolution. An actual one. Where instead of pretending to be the resistance (where they currently support a bigger, more oppressive government) the Campus Left will oppose a legal ruling by the government that prohibits universities that accept public funding from using student fees or the system of funding student groups to silence opinions to which they object.

The mustered snowflakes will march in protest before their ideological masters in defense of their voluntary oppression. They will use free speech to protect its suppression.

That you can do.

Another thing you can do is point and laugh at a parade of suckers (that would make P.T. Barnum smile from the grave), just as long as you are not on a college campus.

But they are working on that.

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