Free speech

A good post from UK blogger Pub philosopher on why propety rights should not take precedence over freedom of speech.

Liberal parenting

During an Anzac memorial service I attended this morning a child sitting behind me yelled and moaned throughout the proceedings yet the parents of this little darling never once told them to shut up or leave the hall.

Why come to a serious, solemn event if you know your kids have no hope of behaving?

While such behaviour is still embarrassing and shameful to most people, for many left-liberal parents a child’s right to ‘self- expression’ seems to comes before any social obligation to behave in a considerate manner.

And Sue Bradford wonders why 80 percent of the population is opposed to her anti-smacking legislation.

Managerialism in universities

Watching the 2003 film Luther the other day, reminded me of a Quadrant article by Malcolm Saunders on the topic of managerialism in Australia’s universities.

The revenue gathering fixation of today’s universities seems to have some similarities with the 16th Century Catholic Church’s preoccupation with selling indulgences.

According to Saunders, Australian university administrators are more concerned with securing research money and racking in tuition fees than with providing value for money.

The unfashionable researcher who works on the smell of an oily rag can be compared to the rebel priest who focused on serving his parish rather than his Church’s coffers.

Saunders goes on to say, this managerial culture of cynicism, cronyism and blind institutional allegiance is driving many Australian academics into early retirement. If this is true, it sounds pretty worrying (and wasteful) given that western nations are facing a looming shortage of high IQ workers.

Although Saunders appears to be writing from a liberal perspective, his dislike of the current cultural climate of academia should resonant with many conservatives. I particularly like the following comment, which could apply to many workplaces:

"While the physical conditions under which academics work has probably never been better, the cultural climate in which they pursue their disciplines has never been worse."

In response to Saunders article, US legal blogger Terrence Berres summed things up nicely with this pithy comment:

"The seemingly incompatible bed-partners – liberal economics and postmodernism – have joined forces to ensure that Australian universities serve economic rather than academic cum intellectual ends."

Quote of the week

A great quote from Udolpho on liberal reaction to the Don Imus affair:

"It is considered a sign of high status to refuse to see the world clearly - for only someone of high status can persist in impractical behaviour and beliefs."

Indian immigration

Vdare contributor Brenda Walker raises some interesting points about the darker aspects of Sub- continental culture (see here).

New Zealand is currently going through a period of increased Indian immigration. Since Labour introduced tougher English language requirements for immigrants, East Asian immigration has slowed and the number of Indian arrivals is on the increase.

I don’t know a lot about Indian culture (which is notoriously complex) but I am concerned about India’s population levels.

In comparison with China, India’s birth rates are still very high and I think New Zealand and other western nations need to be cautious about increasing the level of sub-continental immigration at the present time.

Thoughts on 300

War Nerd’s take on the new cartoon action epic 300, is that it’s essentially a neo-conservative propaganda piece that champions American values and takes a cheap shot at Iran.

While there is probably a lot of truth in this analysis, I do think the film’s critics have overlooked the significance of the Pelopennesse War in western culture.

Herodotus’s account of the Greek’s exploits in the war may well be one sided, but it seems to be an historical fact that in terms of numbers the Greeks thoroughly out fought the Persians.

The West has always been a labour poor civilisation, which has had to find ways to defend itself with inferior numbers. While Asiatic civilisations build up large populations through intensive grain farming, western nations, with less favourable climatic conditions, had to rely on low-intensity pastoral farming and seasonal grain crops. Such farming methods were not conducive to high population densities.

The resulting manpower shortage provided western civilisation with a strong incentive to develop labour saving technology and introduce a more individualistic social system. Democracy and citizenship were not so much about “self-actualisation” (as modern liberals assume) as about maximising each individual’s potential to help their city or nation state.

With fewer men, the ancient Greeks commanders had to use their manpower more resourcefully, and economically, than their Persian opponents and in doing so provided the inspiration for later audacious commanders like Alexander, Clive and Houston.