We know that large percentages of academics and students refrain from expressing their views on certain topics for fear of being denounced, mobbed or formally sanctioned. Self-censorship on campus is frequently discussed in the media – and rightly so. But what’s the situation in the population at large? And how has it changed over time?
Recently, two relevant studies came to my attention. The first is from the United States. In a paper published last year, James Gibson and Joseph Sutherland collated all the surveys they could find that had asked Americans a simple question: “What about you personally? Do you or don’t you feel as free to speak your mind as you used to?”
This question is not necessarily ideal, though it has the advantage that it was first put to the American people way back in 1954 by the sociologist Samuel Stouffer – which permits the study of long-term trends. When the authors plotted the percentage who said they did not feel free to speak their mind over time, this is what they found:
There is a clear increase in self-censorship. (Although note that the years on the x-axis are not always consecutive because they represent the specific years in which surveys were available.) In 1954, only 13% of Americans said they did not feel free to speak their mind. By 1987, this had grown to 21%; by 2011 to 31%; and by 2020 to 46%.
So around half of Americans say they don’t feel free to speak their mind. And interestingly, a substantial portion of the change since 1954 has occurred over just the last 10 years – corresponding to the Great Awokening.
The second study that came to my attention is from Germany. Researchers from the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy asked a sample of Germans, “Do you have the feeling that you can express your political opinion freely in Germany today, or is it better to be careful?”
This is a question they first post back in 1953 (in West Germany), although unfortunately the figures published in the study only go back to 1990 (the year of reunification). Here’s what the researchers found:
Here too, there has been a marked rise in self-censorship. Back in 1990, only 16% of Germans said it’s better to be careful. By 2017, this had grown to 25%; and by 2023 to 44%. Like in the United States, almost half the population say they don’t feel free to express their political opinions, with a large portion of the change having occurred over just the last 10 years.
Interestingly, the researchers found that only among Green voters was there a majority who said they can express their political opinions freely. Among supporters of the Alternative für Deutschland party, 62% said it is better to be careful. This Left-Right divide is also present in the U.S., where Republicans are much more likely to refrain from saying these due to the political climate.
Since the start of the Great Awokening in 2012 or thereabouts, Americans and Germans have become much more likely to self-censor. And the same is almost certainly true in other Western countries. So much for the liberal West.
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I had never heard of handball until seeing this article.
Me neither but I’m liking the players. A lot.
Brilliant news.
Ww need the IHF to dig their feet in and for the players to form a single, defiant block and give the IHF authorities a monumental sex and travel response.
This has the potential to be a real goody. A sporting war. Loads of publicity and lots of bad press for the poison pushers, statistics all over the place, tragic stories. Billy and Klaus flapping. Bourla nowhere to be seen. Fishy in his cave. Sage in a bunker somewhere. Michie on a fact- finding mission in Antartica and Raine AWOL.
Marvellous.
Come on you lot.
Oh I fervently hope so.
In my own circle of musicians we dodged a bullet when a minority of Karens on a management committee tried to make vaccination a requirement of performing a symphony concert. They failed to impose the requirement, but then the venue owners imposed their own restrictions which scuppered the concert at the last moment. It’s chaos. We can’t be sure that some unknown authoritarian Karen isn’t going to veto our next attempt. Legal action looks prohibitively expensive, presumably it would be ECHR Right of Assembly Case versus Article 13 lawfare.
That’s upsetting to hear.
All the best
Michie the Bichie in the snow ! Frostbite would be too kind ! Mind you her hatchet face would probably melt the thickest ice
Nice one Freddy
The person who runs the IHF needs to be named and publicly shamed for the petty tyrant that he is.
Not yet. We want a proper set to, something that even The Times cannot ignore.
Come on lads. Get in to them!
Being a personal fiefdom, The Times can ignore whatever it wants!
I’ve looked him up. His name is Hassan Moustafa.
He’s been the president of the federation since 2000. So he’s been running the sport for 22 years, being reelected 6 times, the last 3 unopposed.
I bet he runs it like a personal fiefdom. That’s how most of these international federations operate, accountable to no one but themselves.
The Sep Blatter of Handball then !
You beat me to it Freddy.
Since when does the International Handball Federation, a perfectly private organization, have the authority to prescribe mandatory medical procedures for people attending or playing handball matches?
NB: The obvious answer is It doesn’t.
Governments have signalled over the last three years that they are quite happy for private companies and NGOs to do as they like in this regard and essentially do their dirty promotion and enforcement work for them.
And these international sports federations are completely unaccountable to anyone but themselves. Not unlike the WHO or UN. They have these pseudo democratic processes that elevate a delegate from each country to a global council which then sets rules for the entire world. And because it’s “democratic” then everyone has to follow their rules.
The moment you open your eyes, it’s impossible not to see the world as just a series of cartels. The pharma cartel, the media cartel, the energy cartel, all the sports cartels, the tech cartels, the banking cartel… etc….
The thing is the IHF really doesn’t have this authority, no more than they can randomly arrest people on premises they happened to rent. It’s neither a sovereign government enforcing some laws on its own territory nor an organization created by sovereign governments which have chosen to delegate certain powers to it. The people behind this may have the chutzpah to try it nevertheless, on the grounds that bullying oftentimes works, but bullying is all they have to support their stance.
They can keep the players out of the tournament which belongs to them, unless there are laws explicitly prohibiting that sort of discrimination.
I don’t know what the laws in Sweden and Poland say in this regard.
Of course, the players can get together and decide to boycott. At this point, they’re insane if they don’t.
After Damar Hamlin, I find it hard to imagine there is any athlete of any note who is not concerned about the vaxxes and certainly don’t want any / any more at this point in time. It only stops when we make it stop.
I don’t think your theory that the IHF is a sovereign government which has automatic exterritoriality in any place it may rent somewhere and is thus not subject to the laws of the countries its operating in and authorized to make up its own laws as it sees fit and enforce them violently is correct. But please feel free to prove me wrong by coming up with something which shows that private associations of businesspeople do actually have these rights in Sweden and Poland.
Re private companies setting mandates…
The situation is really bad in Australia where it’s likely millions have been impacted by jab mandates set by state governments, businesses, sports clubs etc.
In regard to companies, I’m challenging the jab mandate set by Westpac Bank for its employees, a jab mandate which is still in place.
See my email to the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Westpac Group: Westpac and Covid jab mandates – why were employees denied a voluntary decision on this medical intervention? 4 January 2023.
Well maybe, but where were they when people including children were being forced, coerced and gaslighted into being injected and generally vilified if they weren’t.
Most sports governing bodies are inept, corrupt because they are monopolies. Competition is the only thing that can keep them on their toes. There is little to prevent a group of professionals setting up a more democratic leaner and meaner organisation and ensure by a comprehensive constitution that the tendency to corruption and being captured by bad actors is democratically blocked. Two competing governing bodies in a region or country tend to keep each other a bit more efficient and honest. Perhaps Iceland should make a start.
Now the “Long march through the institutions’ is complete the march through sporting associations seems well underway as the England squad demonstrated in Quatar.