I went to the Free Speech Union’s ‘speakeasy’ in Oxford last week. A great event, packed out, with lots of interesting conversation and a short talk from an Oxford philosophy professor on the dynamics of groupthink.
The FSU is a much-needed lobby group and union, fighting for its members’ basic and essential free speech rights, which are so seriously under threat now.
It has to be said that the meeting was dominated by ‘chattering-class’ types like me – writers and academics – which is inevitable in a newish organisation set up by a well-known journalist after his own appalling hounding and attempted cancellation.
A few of us mentioned this overrepresentation: how important it was to promote the truth that free speech isn’t just an issue for those whose livelihoods depend on writing and teaching. For every academic who needs protecting there will be thousands in ‘ordinary jobs’ who are bullied – self-censoring or literally shut down – into cowed silence. The free speech of a transport worker, fired for saying we don’t live in an Islamic state, is at least as important as that of an Oxford don. After all, as the don said: “People like me are very difficult to sack.” Not so the transport worker. And – to its great credit – the FSU represented the latter in a case he won.
I spoke as a teacher (interestingly, the only one there) who warned how chronic the situation of free speech in schools had become. I had the impression that people were mostly aware of this, but not of how critical the issue is – of the tsunami which will hit us all when the current generation at school are in positions of power. I heard many who were naïvely confident in the ‘pendulum effect’ – that the overreaches of wokedom will inspire a refreshing backlash. I’m less sure that this will do much for the everyday person (like me) who’s been badly affected by the authoritarianism which we face. Wokedom exhibits classic ‘anti-fragility’ and is often strengthened for being attacked, its favourite position.
Perhaps most striking was the assumption that we do still enjoy freedom of speech. We don’t. Most people self-censor, to an extraordinary extent. Indeed, a number of people I spoke to at the event were using just those verbal ticks to indicate to a listener that they’re not racist/sexist/transphobic/whatever. This has become so ingrained and instinctive many don’t even notice it.
My main concern was urging the FSU into thinking hard about how to promote itself in schools. A very difficult ask, but vital. From my experience in teaching, little if any effort is made by teachers in promoting an understanding of free speech in pupils – in direct contrast with the huge amount done on ‘not causing offence’ or the need for ‘safe spaces’. Pupils draw their own conclusions. I’ve yet to teach one who really understood what free speech means, as an idea and in practice. At best, they saw it as always contingent on ‘not causing offence’. More often, they thought free speech was simply being allowed to open your mouth.
I’m a free-speech absolutist from my fundamental beliefs in individual rights but also because its absence means not one of the myriad problems we face gets acknowledged, still less addressed. I think the FSU is stronger on the first point (the philosophical argument) but could do more to stress the practical benefits. That would broaden its appeal. It needs to empower and embolden people so that they stop self-censoring and fatalistically thinking they need to keep quiet.
So many times – and I understand the argument – I’ve heard: “It’s not worth speaking out, I can’t risk it.” In the long run, many will regret such timidity and bear scars from the battles they didn’t fight in a loss of self-respect. It’s unhealthy, not just for society but for the individual, to feel and think strongly then repress it.
Every issue on which free speech is restricted – be it Covid, race, gender, immigration, whatever – is made far worse. Its absence in literature means this artform is vanishing. The scandals around grooming gangs, childcare, transitioning of prepubescent children, vaccine safety (incoming!) were – and are – all enabled by its numerous enemies, perhaps deliberately.
Paul Sutton can be found on Substack. He is the author of two collections of poetry.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Great article. Well said.
So many of today’s incompetent bungles: lockdowns, vaccine passports, mask mandates, the failure of our conventional deterrent, stem from the public sector and its expense, culture of fear.
If we cannot confront the public sector, then we cannot prevent further erosions of our freedoms.
There is an answer:
Kemi Badenoch
Just like Johnson was removed for not following ‘the plan’ or at least not to the timetable, will Kemi Badenoch, be allowed the job
I personally think Johnson was removed by ambitious, devious weasels who saw an opportunity and seized it, and he had made too many mistakes to be able to hang on.
A smarter leader with balls who didn’t make stupid blunders might have been able to resist.
Depends what you mean by blunders, he obviously didnt believe much about covid when he overruled more lockdowns and attended many functions where restrictions were actually ignored by global elite, these might be seen as blunders by some.
Well Partygate was a PR mistake I think – obviously I am talking about public perception not my perception. And the Pincher and Paterson stuff seems like a mistake. Again public/media perception, not mine.
Unfortunately, Bunter saw himself as a Churchillian figure but, given the chance to make Churchillian decisions, he totally flunked it.
In so doing, he killed tens of thousands before their time through hospital clearances, presided over several monstrous curtailments of personal liberty, staggering levels of national debt, inflation, consequent draconian cost of living increases, exacerbated by his, frankly, quite mad ‘net zero’ nonsense and behaved, throughout, with unabated insouciance, contempt, for his own absurd regulations.
He is very fortunate not to have had to take refuge on a ship hundreds of miles offshore, as the Sri Lankan President has had to do.
Today’s round up article puts it far better than I can:
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/07/11/why-lockdown-will-haunt-johnsons-legacy/
Thank you very interesting, the comment “Despite Johnson’s apparently liberal and democratic instincts, he allowed himself to be pushed around by those who were predicting the apocalypse”, seems to say it all, yes he did flunk the Churchillian part completely. But then, so have many of the leaders around the world.
Completely agree. And it is the Ukrainians who are paying the biggest price of all for a crop of pusillanimous no hoper leaders in the West, all of whom were captured during the ‘pandemic’ by supranational and para statal players, many with skin in the game, for all kinds of reasons, not many redounding to their credit.
Constitution of the United States – First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The founders knew all about tyranny.
The hub of the censorship is now embedded at the grassroots level and this is where it is worryingly embedded in ‘group think’. Especially in schools!!
Another member of staff complained about my belief; to senior management. In other words they felt it was their duty to ‘inform on me’ that I did not share the schools policy on gender ideology and therefore I was in breach of a unquestioned and fixed consensus. No opportunity for critique of any kind allowed.
When I calmly spoke out about my beliefs around gender ideology and RSE in the meeting I was told I had to keep quiet about it, I was “silenced”. No you cannot tell children that vast vast majority of babies don’t need assignments of sex it is obvious to the parents! No you are not allowed!
The head told me that “ this is society” as if I had no choice but to be passively compost, a suggestion that it was now a whole group think that nobody can deviate from. My concern is that there was no thought that this could be dystopian or totalitarian in any way, just accept it or else!
? Or I could be excluded.
So the important area for free speech is this grassroots area where ordinary people like me inhabit because it is here that our young are being trained to be the next generation to be the army of silencers, cancelers and informers and all on their fellow citizen. This is where free speech needs to be reinstated!!
In conclusion please protect free speech at this grassroots level because this is where the censorial advocates are getting their power. It is growing stronger not weakening.
Thanks for your post. When debating this topic, people often try to suggest that the whole “woke” business has been exaggerated in order to trigger people/for clickbait, and that it’s really not much to worry about – ignore it and it will go away. I tell them that it’s in the workplaces and educational settings of millions of Britons already and growing fast, and it cannot be ignored. We made the mistake of ignoring it and pandering to it from the start, and look where it has got us.
Yes
The false virtue of checking peoples speech and intentions is firmly embedded in the consciousness of the youthful masses.
They are rewarded by their ‘informing and snitching on others’ by; you can keep your job, or well done for your compliance you will be rewarded by a perceived false respect and maybe you can be part of this cultural Marxist cool gang, put on your uniform, normally a rainbow, somewhere. Laces usually.
Peoples, are not just gullible to this naturally anymore it is taught, in schools, not just in the curriculum but so called adult staff role models, may mention how it is the anniversary of stonewall OR in this English sentence the missing word is ‘person’ who gets pregnant not woman. Drip, drip feeding the narrative.
PHSE lessons grossly inflate the priority and grave necessity for our society to blindly follow inclusion, diversity and so on; manners never mentioned! extra praise is given to the pupils who call out others who may briefly dare to question or ask innocently a question.
” nice thinking about it but good question but glad you have listened to why it is important “ now comply, whilst the rest now sit silent.
High school age are now primed to listen out and often correct adults around them with a lofty demeanour, pointing out a colour abstractly mentioned as, that’s racist, that’s anti gender, that’s not green and so on it goes.
I stopped counting how many science lesson plans had “So today everyone you need to produce a poster about renewable energy to save the planet” after which there were delighted mutterings from pupils because they knew this was an easy chit chat drawing lesson! a reward for compliance, a reward for acceptance as they got to use their all singing colourful gell and felt tip pens to create the beautiful Wizard of Oz landscape of wind energy on hills, with the dark evil ‘witch of the north’ coal power stations threatening to engulf La La land. This ‘learning task’ was set too many times, once is enough.
And on it goes, more and more culturally Marxist recruits ready to have more brainwashing at university by other young adult lecturers all on the same long march through the institutions, flying their flags and believing the utopian future is at the end of the ‘Yellow brick road’ except when they eventually look down as the snake turns on them they are not wearing Dorothy’s red shoes but the boots of oppression instead.
“High school age are now primed to listen out and often correct adults around them with a lofty demeanour”
Yes they’re like the Junior Anti-sex league. Didn’t the Hitler Youth encourage snitching on your parents?
A teacher wrote a piece in DS this week that she resigned because the school were cancelling the parents out of the loop from information about their child’s gender ideology. In other words unqualified ideologues cancelling the family and no speech invited!!
So parents cancelled and checked . Both.
The brainwashing embodiment, of this cultural censorship of speech, starts in nursery and goes all the way to University!
All helped made easy by the educational resources, earmarked and provided in government educational documents and educational authority documents.
Easy.
I feel that the biggest threat to our society is the settlement that academia, the media and governments have come to over contentious topics. The settlement is that we must do anything and everything in their power to avoid a debate and that any tactics are justified by the greater good, whether that be vaccinating everyone or net zero. The argument is that any kind of nuanced debate will be result in a watered-down response to the perceived threat, because the public are too stupid to come to the ‘right’ view, so we must exercise the precautionary principle and close down dissenting views. They have achieved this settlement by the pigeon-holing of those with dissident views as ‘conspiracy theorists’ and it just cannot enter their heads to imagine that they might be wrong. This is the Mass Formation that Mattias Desmet describes in his book, ‘The Psychology of Totalitarianism’. Free speech is an antidote to totalitarianism, which is why it is resisted at every turn. What we have learned over the last couple of years is that while most people are in favour of free speech as an abstract concept, they just don’t care enough to do anything about it when it is under threat. While Joe Public has very limited power to do anything about this, as not even the ballot box offers a choice in the matter, in years gone by one would have expected parliamentarians and the judiciary to see the danger and react accordingly. With a couple of honourable exceptions, they have not done so, and I have trouble seeing what might wake them from their slumber.
In the sphere of social media and the censorship inherent there, I came across this:
https://newspunch.com/leaked-video-hypocritical-zuckerberg-caught-blasting-experimental-covid-jabs-to-inner-circle/
I’ve posted it to my MP with the suggestion that he bear it in mind when the Online Safety Bill is being discussed. Sauce for the goose, and all that
Speakeasy what speakeasy? I pay £15 a month to the FSU, f all to W Gates I’m sure but I never get to hear about these events. Any chance of an invitation or is it for Oxford knobs only? My pater went to Cambridge a much better University! No grudge honest ‘guv.