In this age of moral bankruptcy, the "intellectuals" are again screaming "robbery," and are out looking for a scapegoat to take the blame for the "hostile environment" that they themselves have created. But this time, the moral cannibals have dropped all pretenses. In the name of "tolerance" and "sensitivity," they stand ready to devour FREEDOM OF SPEECH.* According to a Dartmouth English professor, "Free speech is the last refuge of scoundrels." Coming from a professor, this remark is at least conceivable (and I would even agree with it, adding that no one has the right to deprive the professor of his "last refuge"). The scary part is that some students, our "future leaders," have also voiced this view. What did the little fascists have to say? One female sophomore recited the very principle underlying every dictatorship: "Thoughts lead to actions and words lead to deeds. We need to make sure that these words can't be spoken." Hmmm...such "words" can only "lead" to one kind of "deed." A male senior, taking his comrade's comment to its logical conclusion, proposed that the majority be "FORCED to learn the ways of the minority" (emphasis added). But this ignores the rights of the smallest--and most important--minority of all: the individual. And I doubt "force," in this context, means simply a "Latest Oppressed Minority" distributive requirement. As the following statement shows, this student clearly has something "grander" in mind: "Just as Karl Marx said, in order for there to be change, there needs to be a revolution." If and when America collapses into dictatorship, we can all thank these nimrods for bringing us the "revolution." If we ever find ourselves under the absolute whim of another syphilis-ridden mediocrity like Hitler, it will be because our "future leaders" accepted the idea that force--not persuasion by reason--is an acceptable method of dealing with opposing viewpoints. Who would teach them such a thing? The same people who teach them that reason is just a "western prejudice"--that what exist are not rational people, but whim-driven "products" of "nature and nurture." Such attacks on reason are merely the prelude to an attack on individual rights. If people are unreasonable, then they must be dealt with as animals--by force. This is why the brute who starts by declaring (as the professor did) "there is no 'power of the word,'" will end by employing the "power of sword." A proud, free American might well wonder, "what is to be done?"** Should we "make sure" that irrationalists like the professor and his minions "cannot speak" of repressing ideas? No. To borrow their own slogan, "SILENCE OPPRESSES US ALL," and the violation of ONE person's rights--no matter how despicable that person may be--necessarily violates the rights of all. It would be worse than hypocrisy to suppress speech in the name of saving it. To initiate force against others is to declare, in effect, "my views are indefensible in reality, and I seek to impose them on others at the point of a gun." But reason does not require the backing of a gun. Reason has REALITY, and reality always wins. For rational ideas to succeed requires nothing more the courage to speak them (and an audience rational enough to listen, which can't be achieved at gunpoint, either).
* The events I speak of--the "Ghetto" party and its aftermath, the "Sensitivity Summit"--happened over a month ago. However, in the absence of a logical, moral rebuttal, the intellectual trend toward the repression of ideas has gone unchecked. It is like an oozing puddle of gasoline waiting for a spark, waiting to explode into full-fledged speech codes. Currently, no significant actions are being taken against intellectual freedom--this article is intended to douse that fire before someone else lights it. ** And let me add that, in my view, to be an "American" does not involve an accident of birth, or the possession of some papers. To be an American is to uphold and live by the principles this country was founded on. For that reason, an American is anyone who upholds the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. Such a person--no matter how long ago his ancestors came here--is an American in the truest and only meaningful sense of the word. I seek to reach those true Americans, wherever such may still be found. If you are listening, it is to you I have always spoken, and to you I am speaking now.
|
