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.
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“...it would be completely mad for Ukraine to deliberately kill its own civilians...”
Isn’t this how it all started in the first place though, Mr Rons? Wasn’t Ukraine already ‘completely mad’ because it was killing its own civilians from 2014 onwards? I’m not saying the Russians didn’t blow the dam – who knows, maybe they did to deny the Ukrainians irrigation or to lower morale – but you have to agree that a high degree of madness exists in that failed state and amongst its lowest moments was the deliberate campaign against its ethnic Russian community.
Agree. Makes little sense for the Russians to do this. Given the US 51rst state’s recent activity, it seems more credible that the US proxy is at fault, though in all honesty no one really knows including Ian who seems intent on drinking the propaganda kool aid spooned out by the CIA et al.
What do you mean by 51st state, exactly? Ukraine itself?
Rons is a mono-maniac – rationality is wasted on it.
Got it in one (that is intended to be a play on “mono”).
In addition to the matters described, a report on Al Jazeera came up with a rough financial guesstimate for the loss of revenue due to reduced export of agricultural products, e.g. wheat. Can’t remember the numbers exactly, but it was in $billions.
Ian Rons is single handedly making subscribers question their continued payments to The Daily Sceptic.
I am forced to assume that he pays for the column inches.
I now look upon it as humorous relief in the fiction department.
Yes I said to my husband this morning I would be out if another pro Ukraine piece appeared. Maybe they did blow it up, maybe Russia did, but the point of DS is to be sceptical not to present a one sided view of a foreign war.
We’re here on The Daily Sceptic to get away from all the lies, propaganda and omissions in the main stream media NOT to have them reinforced by the establishment leaning articles by Ian Rons.
I like to read a range of views, not just those that I already agree with. I don’t want to pay to be in an echo chamber.
I don’t want to pay to read Ian Rons ridiculous establishment views that I can read in the main stream media for free.
I want The Daily Sceptic to inform us with different versions to government and their vested interests mantras.
There is nothing wrong with The Daily Sceptic being an “echo chamber” of dissent.
I cannot understand the criticisms of this post. It is detailed well argued case. That should be enough by itself to justify taking it seriously.
It is also very convincing. It is incredibly far fetched to suppose Ukraine had a motive but the clincher is that they didn’t have the kit to do it and Ian has shown this in detail. What Ian might have explored more is whether it was approved at the highest level by Russia, whether whoever did it anticipated how awful it would be, or whether it was an accident based on the explosives Russia had in place.
Perhaps you ought to consider why the Ukrainians left the taps turned on full upstream so that the reservoir filled, literally, to overflowing, ensuring maximum pressure on a dam already weakened by previous Uke artillery and missile attacks, and then turned them off once the dam was breached to ensure the reservoir drained as quickly as possible. The Russians certainly had no hand in either action.
I don’t understand – what “taps” are these? In any case the water level was under Russian control as all they had to was open the floodgates a bit more to lower it.
The “taps” are the flow controls on the dam by the Dieper power station in Ukrainian controlled Dnieperpetrovsk. Normally the water flows through the generation turbines, but the Ukrainians gave up making electricity in return for opening their sluice gates to achieve maximum water flow for the first time in living memory. Most normal people would wonder why
I have scoured the internet but cannot find an reference to this story. Do you have one?
Opinion is not evidence. It argues opinion – not the evidence which the author said was abundant but doesn’t mention.
But the article is packed with evidence! You can dispute it but it is certainly there.
No evidence of anything….just opinion and the usual one-sided propaganda and I happily dispute it…..all of this is based on Ukrainian or anti-Russian analysis…there isn’t a single Russian or independent person or publication mentioned throughout…It might convince you but I’d just ask..what do you think the Ukrainians WOULD say LOL!
Really Ian I can’t be bothered with you anymore after you embarrassed yourself commenting on your last work of fiction, and this doesn’t get any closer to engineering sense, despite your reference to an ex RE, who by looking at his Twitter feed is hardly likely to have a balanced view on Ukrainian issues.
Thanks for another interesting post, Ian Rons. I’m a DS subscriber and really appreciate them.
Love the irony.
PS I am sceptical about the Welsh too, after 3 years at a Welsh uni.
I don’t even know why people try to use their judgment in regard to analysis of such events. There are no standards to assess anything by in a rapidly moving situation and to pretend that you can understand it from an armchair is absurd. As long as you are aware of the the Anglo-American schtick and all that follows from it then you don’t really need to ask any further questions.
I don’t mean to criticise anyone but I do feel that is in a sense unseemly to talk about overseas wars and more than that it is the opposite of what we are fighting for. Believe me in the next six months western support among the general populace will collapse. But unfortunately the Yanks have opened up their big storage sites in the desert and they are taking everything out of storage, thousands of aircraft. This is a huge operaton costing about $1 million dollars per plane and several weeks work. Just be aware that the next stage, an aerial war, won’t be as abstract and faraway as it has been.
Let me know if I have summarised your article correctly, Ian:
‘Destroying the dam with missiles is difficult for Ukraine, therefore somehow Russia destroyed it.’
Could the downvoters please explain where I have gone wrong with my attempt to summarise Ian’s article?
They´re paid 77th.
You know who did it cut the crap we all know who did it. If youj want me to lay it out in triplivate I can give you details of Ukrainan threats on this site and previous reports of missile strikes on this site.This isn’t rocket science we know who did it.
Just atacking sites and destroying people’s lives for the sake of some dead political battle. And then to be used by the West as some sort of last ditch attempt to keep things going. Avoid these forces. A time is coming where a man’s word will be his bond.
Biden owes Ukraine a lot, the funding isn’t going to stop.
All this report needed to say was:
1
the power of explosive device(s) needed for an outside attack was not available to Ukraine and possibly not even the Wedt
2
Russia benefits at least in the short term from the damage. At no stage does it benefit Ukraine.
enough said.
(OT)
To be fair Ian (re. James Delingpole “mad” over satanists controlling global weather theory) I actually took issue with a Delingpole theory in the comments of the recent London Calling episode (Town v. Country living), namely that an all meat diet (and certainly an all cooked meat diet) is a good idea as salad and fruit and raw food is genuinely beneficial (together with a proportion of meat/fish/eggs) as part of a balanced diet (see Phillip Day).
I love the sheer comical irony and bathos of the “We don’t come to this explicitly free-speech orientated site to hear views we don’t agree with. Shut up or we’re going to take our money elsewhere’ type comments (and their upticks) on this and similar threads.
Mind you it would be astonishing if those who support the neo-fascist invasion of an independent country for daring to try and maintain multi-party liberal-democratic institutions and values would feel any genuine affinity with the free-speech principles of The Daily Sceptic – as opposed to simply seeing it as a relatively undefended platform to be captured for propagandist purposes.
And again it’s quite funny watching tyranny trying to impose itself over freedom when it doesn’t have any of the usual intimidatory mechanisms (eg gun-totting police and troops) to back it up, just verbal tantrums and attempts at financial blackmail based on tiny amounts of cash.
Anybody who believes the USA and its lackey states are supporting Ukraine because of their commitment to national independence and multi-party liberal-democratic institutions is, at best, desperately naive.
I’m going with ‘simple-minded’..it’s about the kindest….
let’s face it..to get to that conclusion you have to ignore years of history and politics and precedent…..
Just like a child, boil it down to only good v evil..where you know which is which..and everyone else is wrong and tainted by association..it’s the same argument with the climate..LGB+ etc…as it was with Convid…..if you don’t follow the ‘official propaganda’ you are the enemy..and there is no room for neutrality….
Luckily I truly believe the vast majority of the people in the World see the Western hypocrisy for what it is..along with a good amount of people who actually live in the West.
They have to keep this manufactured good/bad thing going because it’s all they have got..and even they know it’s rubbish….
Lies and pretence take too much time and effort..eventually people see through it…this will be no different…..
The very knowledgeable and entertaining (and definitely not simple minded) Jeffrey Sachs on The Duran…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkrQokUYMmY
Biden is in deep shit when Ukraine loses and his corruption is exposed, hence the funding will continue.
“neo-fascist invasion of an independent country for daring to try and maintain multi-party liberal-democratic institutions and values”
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Your so funny.
1.The neo-fascist have run Ukraine since at least 2014
2.”independent” with Blackrock owning at least 30% of it.
3.”multi-party liberal-democratic institutions and values” that Zelensky has band.
Yes…if Ukraine is a multi party (Elenskyy banned them all..LOL) liberal democracy…I reckon Epstein was a youth outreach worker….
Yeh, right . . .
You underestimate the SBS.
NordStream was incontrovertibly blown up by the Russians, Ukrainians, Swedes, Poles, British and Americans, at the last count.
I will continue to believe nothing that comes out of either side..
It doesn’t sound like Incontrovertible, it sounds like we don’t know but it must have been because we don’t have any evidence. If “it would have been blatantly obvious to the RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft operated by the U.S. and the U.K. which are in constant rotation near Ukraine,” surely these spy planes and satalites could have seen where the planes came from and where they went back to. The USA is not above such actions, having a long history of corruption in starting wars and working in the background fanning the flames.
there are so many uncontrolled assumptions and confounding variables in this assessment, it doesn’t even qualify for the adjective ‘forensic’.
It’s more reminiscent of religion.
‘Over the past week, much evidence has come to light which puts beyond reasonable doubt the conclusion that Russian forces occupying the Kakhovka Dam were responsible for its destruction…’
With so much ‘incontrovertible’ evidence coming to light, I was rather hoping you were going to share some of it with us.
Instead a lot of speculative waffle about how the Ukrainians couldn’t technically do it, whereas the Russians could.
You would have done better to stop at “for defensive purposes – as in this instance”, Ian! The article up to there is an interesting description of why Ukraine probably did not destroy the dam.
After that, though, you descend into suppositions, speculation and opinions. You state, for example, that it would have been “legitimate under the laws of war” for Ukraine to destroy sluice gates to hamper a Russian retreat, but imply that it is not legitimate for Russia to destroy the dam.
You cite without comment a “signal intercept” released by the SBU (Ukrainian intelligence) as evidence that Ukraine was not responsible.
You state that “the scale of the flooding does seem to have taken Russia by surprise”, without noting that this surely is at least some evidence that Russia was not responsible.
You state that Ukraine did not have a motive “given their adherence to the Geneva Conventions” – even if it were true that they are adhering to those conventions, I am not sure why that would affect whether they had a motive for blowing the dam.
You also state that “it would be completely mad for Ukraine to deliberately kill its own civilians by blowing the dam – citizens that they are in the process of liberating” – this is ridiculous since the same would obviously apply to the Russian side, especially as their own troops were among those affected.
And you say that “The loss of agricultural irrigation both in these regions and in Crimea (which was, in any case, without irrigation between 2014–22) is of little significance to Russia – they have almost no regard for the lives of their troops, and none for Ukrainian civilians.” This is a complete non sequitur – even if it were true that the Russians do not care about the lives of their troops (which I find extremely unlikely to be honest), why would that affect whether they cared about loss of irrigation, especially in Crimea?
You have produced a compelling case that the Russians blew the dam – and then wrecked it with a very silly second half of the article.
Increasingly the outflow of water is not the same as destroying a dam, causing a flood affecting civilian areas.
I said that it was “supposedly between Russian soldiers”, not that it was between Russian soldiers, and I also included a lot of other “chatter” – described as such – which goes toward making a circumstantial case.#
I don’t agree that it is evidence of that. There were different forecasts of what would happen if the dam were blown, and it was an inherently uncertain and risky undertaking. “You were only meant to blow the bloody doors off!”, etc.
Ukraine would have to have been crazy not to see the consequences, including from the very self-interested angle of Western support.
Nonsense. Russia is not “liberating” people it calls “kokhols”. You totally misunderstand what’s happening.
I don’t think you non sequitur means what you think it means. Perhaps you missed the phrase “…and none for Ukrainian civilians”. Obviously irrigation affects civilians living in Ukraine (which includes Crimea), but they don’t care about them. There are of course some Russians who’ve moved into Crimea, so perhaps I should have said they don’t care about them either.
One day we’ll all come to recognise Ian Rons as one of the true comedic geniuses of his generation.