Censorship, Stalinism and Emo Kids.

The political left infuriates me at times. Actually, it often infuriates me. But maybe that's because I'm much more of an anarchist than a Stalinist.

Yesterday, the chief executive of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission spoke at the Melbourne Unitarian Church on defending the state governments poorly-considered Racial and Religious Tolerance Act. The main problem with the act is that is outlaws certain (ridicule, contemptuous) speech not on the basis of truth (e.g., defamation law or vilification law), but on offensiveness. In other words, offensive truths are outlawed.

I pointed this out during the service (apparently making the CEO quite uncomfortable, thank goodness) and afterwards found myself in a debate over what constitutes "truth" (external correspondence, I suggested pragmatically) to whit one member of the congregation suggested that there have been numerous claims that Stalin killed millions but these have never been proven true. It's like they've never heard of Robert Conquest whose words ring resoundingly: "Not even high intelligence and a sensitive spirit are of any help once the facts of a situation are deduced from a political theory, rather than vice versa."

To add to further infuriation, there is the total stupidity of a psychologist who claims Emo causes death (via missmalice. I have written a harsh letter to said psychologist. One automatically recalls the term "moral panic", as described by Stanley Cohen in 1972 to describe the reaction to Mods and Rockers in the United Kingdom. Sort of on-topic (noone else on my flist has mentioned this); Boris Pickett ("Monster Mash") has died.

Link of the week to scarletazalea: Morning shower and coffee at the same time: Caffiene soap! (it's absorbed through the skin).