On Oct. 31, 1961, Sir Oswald Mosley, notorious leader of the British Union of Fascists, gave a public lecture at the University of Cambridge. A student who was present at the time described him as “articulate, eloquent, and charming, but clearly talking nonsense.”
The event was well attended, but nobody believed a word he said, and all were “inoculated for life” against his crazy bigotry.
Nowadays, more than half a century later, he would be deplatformed. As soon as word got out that he had been invited to speak at a university (any university, including Cambridge) there would be an outcry.
Protesters would demand that the invitation be withdrawn: students would be “unsafe” if he were allowed to speak; they would need to be “protected” from the kind of disinformation that he would spread.
Exaggeration? Hardly.
It may not be possible to come up with a simple definition, but we can get an idea of who to avoid based on particular instances.
For example, if you want a scientist to speak at your next conference or talkfest, don’t even think about inviting Patrick Moore or Ian Plimer: you’d be asking for trouble.
Writers to avoid are J. K. Rowling (a really “nasty” piece of work), Jordan Peterson, and Julie Burchill.
Historians? Geoffrey Blainey is a definite no-no, or anybody else who thinks that, on the whole, European civilisation has achieved some worthwhile successes in, you know, the arts or sciences.
Poor old Barry Humphries has now passed away, but if he hadn’t died he wouldn’t be welcome at your next comedy festival—after all, comedy isn’t just about splitting your sides, it’s more about thinking correctly, if also a bit tediously.
News commentators? Don’t touch Greg Sheridan, Andrew Bolt, or Rod Liddle.
The Ultimate No-No
So there’s a big minefield out there.If you’re Left-leaning, be careful where you walk and who you ask to your next intellectual shindig.
You’ve got plenty of choices: any writer, artist, singer, actor, sportsperson or politician is a safe bet if he (they) is less than proud of his (their) country, and can’t distinguish between fantasy (what they would like to be true) and reality (what is actual).
But there’s one category of people you should avoid like the plague: Thinkers. People who actually think for themselves independently, rationally, after looking at both sides of a case and reading widely, are always dangerous. You simply can’t trust them.
- Those who think that killing an unborn child might be even worse than killing a whale.
- Those who think that all animals are either male or female.
- Those who think that the great achievements of Western civilisation—literature, art, music, law, government, and science—are distinctive, remarkable, thrilling, and have enriched the world.
- Those who think that good things happened in Australia before Gough Whitlam became prime minister.
- Those who think that Communists have been just as bad as Nazis and that you can find just as many fascists on the left as the right.
Now Who Are the Good Guys?
Now let’s be sure that we can recognise our friends the good guys, those who really understand the world and know how to fix it.The first thing to notice about them is that they hold as axiomatic that human beings are all basically good. They are not led astray by such things as world wars, massacres, or widespread indifference to the sufferings of the hungry and the poor.
Sure, they accept that occasionally people do bad things, but only because they’ve been deceived by religion or right-wing politicians.
We’re victims: if we do wrong it’s always somebody else’s fault.
They don’t believe in God or the soul, but they do believe that someone can be born in the wrong body. Go figure.
They believe that human beings are just animals, maybe a tad higher in the animal kingdom scale than apes and dolphins, but essentially the same (apart from their remarkable ability to change sex—barring some species of reptiles and fish).
Nor should humans have any special rights. In fact, the rights of other animals need enhanced protection because there are far too many people in the world—and we need to bring that number down.
Admittedly some good guys eat animals, but that’s only because they’re tasty if well-prepared on the instructions of fashionable chefs, the high priests of our brave new world.
Gaia gives us the animals to eat, but if we’re squeamish we can always stick to plant-based food. Gaia wins either way.
Oh, and I almost forgot, good guys think that ordinary people are too stupid to wear masks—or look after themselves in any way.
Desirable behaviour must be enforced by law, which is why parents cannot be trusted to educate their children properly.
Kids are the responsibility of the state, everyone knows that, and they must be protected from confronting ideas.
I hope I have been able to help readers by alerting them to the dangers you face on every side. Good guys don’t believe in capital punishment, of course, but let what happened to Socrates and Christ be a lesson to you!
