Sunday, August 12, 2018

Speech as violence, and the difference between Gandhi and SJWs

The teaching in law, liberal courses, humanities, social sciences, gender and ethnic studies, etc,

that speech is the same as violence,
(hey, what's wrong in that?)

and so consequently violence is a legitimate way to "reply" to people saying things you don't like,
(Oh. Crap. That knife cuts both ways.)

is something that disgusts me, and disturbs me that it's being taught to young people

by the very elders who should have taught them

about non-violent ways of resolving disagreements,

about Gandhi and MLK's decisions in the face of tremendous persuasion otherwise to look beyond identity groups,

about the indomitable human spirit and the vain failures of those who thought they could control it,

about "sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me",

about Rumi's "beyond right and wrong, there is a field..."

The sneakiness of it, the self-righteous branding of it as so noble while so much eternal wisdom is being flushed down the toilet,

is precisely what calls for caution.

I'm seeing what western academia, tech industry, media, NGO sector are doing today in contrast to how Gandhi would publish in full the essays of people disagreeing with him on crucial matters.

Imagine that.

One gave a platform to what he disagreed with in an era of no platforms and a time when he didn't need to. The other is working hard on de-platforming everyone they disagree with in an era of abundance of platforms and a time when they're been tasked with neutrality.

Which of these do you think had a stronger faith in their convictions? Which one had greater faith in the wisdom of the people they were reaching out to?

Which one wants to achieve peace, and which one is only interested in defeating the other at any cost (freedom? just a cost!) ?

The fact that the institutions's admin bodies are steadily diverting resources to enrich themselves, is deeply linked to these developments. Do not let that fact go unexamined when you analyse this situation.

Related video: Punch a Nazi

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