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London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

the-libertarian.co.uk

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Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#141

Post by jlgreco »

ceol wrote: post #138
jlgreco wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh. Well if that is what they mean, then I am at a complete loss as to how that isn't obviously a positive trait.

Kind of proves their point, right? The way your culture views something is "obviously a positive trait"?

"It is better for you to do things that will benefit you" is practically a fucking tautology. How could that be controversial, let alone racist?

Here is what I think; the statement:

  "saying 'future time orientation is superior' is racist"
is itself racist, just like saying,

  "saying 'the ability to drink water from your cupped hands without
   drowning yourself is normal' is racist"
is itself racist.

In other words, you are implying that some appreciation of the value of planning is something that only some cultures possess. That is racist. Consider the possibility that you simply do not understand their goals, and are thus unable to perceive them.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#142

Post by ceol »

SiVal wrote: post #34

This sort of thing is alive and well in US schools, too. The official policy of the Seattle Public School system is to stamp out racism in all its forms, and notice how many forms there are. (Note in particular the Cultural Racism section that includes, "emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology" as a form of racism that, by official policy, is to be stamped out by the government education sy…

Actually, the point is that lots of cultures are collective-oriented, while we as a culture like to favor individualism (even though we are extremely collective in our own ways.)

This is called "cultural bias"; it means that, should a student from another culture come into our schools, they should not feel wrong for being raised in an environment that doesn't promote individualism. Stuff like, "Don't be a sheep!" and, "You are your own person. Don't let anyone take that away from you!" can make them feel out of place and other'ed. Notice how the part you quoted says "as opposed to a more collective ideology." That means they want to get rid of pinning individualism against collectivism; they don't want to get rid of individualism.

I'm not sure what the rest of your comment means, though. Even if that specific phrase is a problem, the rest of the document is all great stuff.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#143

Post by mcantelon »

corresation wrote: post #95
stfu wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So in your world "Some bitch at school did x" falls under hateful speech/cyber-bullying? Well, I guess by now we have to prosecute half of the YouTube and Twitter population. After all all those "first" posters are most certainly making a highly discriminatory remark against all those coming "second".

No, stfu, my "world" isn't quite so black and white: The choice isn't between prosecution or free-for-all, but if you're trying to incite freedom of expression over hateful speech, all while bringing disrepute upon a law school, you probably aren't going to get very far.

The claims that a benign, offhand comment on social media will bring the school into "disrepute" is absurd. The fact that claims like this are becoming increasingly common would indicate that the West (or perhaps just North America) is slowly retreating from the idea of reasonable individual freedom of expression.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#144

Post by mcantelon »

corresation wrote: post #114
gngeal wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hateful speech is not protected in Canada How do they prove that a speech is hateful instead of merely being ordinarily contemptuous?

Just talking abstractly (again, the only reason I mentioned that is that saying "free speech!" is a non-starter when you're calling someone a bitch -- even if unnamed, if any other party could identify who you mean, it isn't anonymous -- and bringing disrepute upon an institution), but Canadian rights are generally based upon the idea that your rights end where my nose begins, and your right to free speech ends when…

>We have a new crop of anti-bullying laws

Please cite the specific law that would make a single mention of an unnamed "bitch" criminal.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#145

Post by mcantelon »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #93
ddinh wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's in the section defining cultural racism: Those aspects of society that overtly and covertly attribute value and normality to white people and Whiteness, and devalue, stereotype, and label people of color as “other”, different, less than, or render them invisible. Examples of these norms include defining white skin tones as nude or flesh colored, having a future time orientation, emphasizing individualism as oppo…

having a future time orientation What does that one even mean?

I'd guess the kind of mentality where you'd save for retirement.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#146

Post by mathattack »

rz2k wrote: post #67
rhizome wrote: post #6

The headteacher, in addition to reporting Zaloom to the police, phoned Glasgow University, where the student had applied to study, in an attempt to dissuade them from accepting him. Not the best way to counter charges of endemic corrpution in society, I must say. In the US, this kind of interference would pose a great deal of trouble for the ambitious functionary.

Earlier this year [1]: >Then there is Katelyn Campbell, 18, whose objection to a factually dubious sex-education assembly at her high school bubbled over into a confrontation with her principal, which bubbled over onto the Internet. > As a senior at George Washington High School in Charleston, W.Va., Ms. Campbell complained to the American Civil Liberties Union about an April assembly featuring an abstinence advocate…

I don't know what's better, that she used a lawyer to get the principal to back off, or that Wellesley stood up for her. It really bothers me when petty admins abuse their position, because they prey on the weak.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#147

Post by mcantelon »

btilly wrote: post #123

Here is the text of an email that I sent the school. ----- The primary duty that a school has is to turn out informed citizens who will try to maintain democracy. Despite your best efforts, you are apparently on the path to success with Kinnan Zaloom. Unfortunately your headmaster has failed to learn the critical lesson that any organization populated by people will have failure modes, and a common failure mode is th…

Nicely done. The headmaster's mentality is in direct conflict with the Enlightenment principles that the West was built on.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#148

Post by mikeash »

altero wrote: post #135
WalterBright wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Old Soviet joke: "The Soviet Union is just like the United States. In the US, you can criticize the American President. In the USSR, you can also criticize the American President!"

Interesting how silent we are. Obama is way worse than Bush ever was.

Silent? I've seen way more criticism of Obama than I ever did of Bush.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#149

Post by corresation »

mcantelon wrote: post #143
corresation wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, stfu, my "world" isn't quite so black and white: The choice isn't between prosecution or free-for-all, but if you're trying to incite freedom of expression over hateful speech, all while bringing disrepute upon a law school, you probably aren't going to get very far.

The claims that a benign, offhand comment on social media will bring the school into "disrepute" is absurd. The fact that claims like this are becoming increasingly common would indicate that the West (or perhaps just North America) is slowly retreating from the idea of reasonable individual freedom of expression.

What absurd responses, though hardly unexpected given the story. Rabble rabble rabble!

An institution gains disrepute through many actions over time. This particular action is very small, just as the response is. Hysterical responses as if she were sent the gallows denote a complete inability of so many to discuss a complex topic without instantly jerking to an extreme. But there is no extreme.

And the whole slippery slope thing is simply nonsense. The idea that you represent such institutions when you go out of your way to incant it has been true throughout history.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#150

Post by corresation »

mcantelon wrote: post #144
corresation wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just talking abstractly (again, the only reason I mentioned that is that saying "free speech!" is a non-starter when you're calling someone a bitch -- even if unnamed, if any other party could identify who you mean, it isn't anonymous -- and bringing disrepute upon an institution), but Canadian rights are generally based upon the idea that your rights end where my nose begins, and your right to free speech ends when…

>We have a new crop of anti-bullying laws Please cite the specific law that would make a single mention of an unnamed "bitch" criminal.

I say it is not protected speech. You ask me to prove it is criminal. I see this discussion is futile.
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