THE UNITED UNIVERSITIES OF AOTEAROA

The Dark and Cowardly Depths to which New Zealand Universities have Sunk

“The universities have been to the nation, as the wooden horse was to the Trojans.”

These words come down through time from English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679). Hobbes was no fan of universities, which he regarded as sneaky stiflers of freedoms of thought and expression. Neither did Hobbes regard the universities of his times as hot beds of academic excellence. His opinion “There is more in Mersenne [a French polymath] than in all the universities together” was more an attack on the level of smarts in universities than a compliment to Mersenne.

The “Universities” quotation comes from Hobbes’ book Behemoth, in which Hobbes used his understanding of human nature to explain the origins of the English Civil War (1642-1651). Broadly speaking, the English Civil War was a protracted and bloody power struggle between military forces loyal to England’s monarch, Charles I, and those who sought Parliamentary democracy. The war ended not with democracy, but with a protestant theocratic dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell, followed by the restoration of monarchy in the form of Charles II. England had gone the full circle, with hellish carnage and destruction in between.

It’s tempting to apply Hobbes’ takes on mid-17^th century English universities to Aotearoa New Zealand’s universities in their current uniform form. Our universities’ rankings on the world stage are plummeting and they have become festering pits of illiberal anti-intellectual Identitarian cancel culture.

The latest instance of a New Zealand university trying to stifle freedoms of expression and association has come from Wellington’s Victoria University. The University has postponed indefinitely (i.e. cancelled in its intended form) a proposed debate on the merits and limits of free speech.

The reason for the cancellation was the proposed inclusion in the debating panel of Jonathan Ayling, head of New Zealand’s Free Speech Union. Victoria University’s student magazine Salient has labelled Ayling a consistent supporter of harmful rhetoric. But the Free Speech Union’s consistency in this regard in questionable, given the Union’s outspoken opposition to the banning of gang patches and paraphernalia. (The Free Speech Union even has a Maori language name!...Kia Rangona Te Korero)

Opposition to the Free Speech Debate has naturally been couched in the pathetic cry-bully rubric of safety and the ridiculous Woke notion that words can be violently harmful.

In the words of Salient sub-editor Henry Broadbent:

"The speech that [the Free Speech Union] are looking to defend is consistently speech that fits under the United Nations' definition of hate speech…Why is that you feel hate speech is a legitimate discourse that shouldn't be suppressed?"

"If something harmful or hateful is said - even if it's fact-checked and shut down immediately afterwards - it can't be unsaid, ever…The question becomes, do you value the safety of your students more or do you value the grievances of Jonathan Ayling more?"

Victoria University’s cancellation of the Free Speech Union from its campus debate is just more of the same from New Zealand universities over the last few years. But there’s been a change. When Don Brash was cancelled from speaking at Massey University in 2018, “Racist!” Brash was cancelled by Massey’s vice-chancellor Jan Thomas, who came in over the top of Massey’s student politics club which had invited Brash to speak. It may be too early to call it a trend, but it now appears that the Snowflakes have taken over the Madhouse Unis, aided and abetted by the helm-surrendering cowards who are supposed to be leading New Zealand’s tertiary educational institutions.

There are distinct differences, however, between the Universities of Hobbes’ era and New Zealand’s current ideologically-identical institutions.

The leaders of England’s 17th Century universities were sly in their attempts to infiltrate and take over the apparatus of State.

The leaders and students of today’s Aotearoan universities, on the other hand, are hitting everyone straight in the face with their fevered Utopian dream - an illiberal New World dictated by Feelings, Safe Spaces, Censorship, Cancellation, anti-Westernism and Societal Division by Race/Sexuality/Gender/Land Ownership…and any other divisive criteria you can think of. All in the name of “Safety” and “Inclusivity”. Yikes.

Aotearoan Universities are only “Progressive” in the sense they all favour radical social upheaval. Whether the hoped-for upheaval will end in increased human welfare is decidedly open to question. And if history teaches us anything, it won’t turn out how anyone anticipates. Buckle up and bunker down. On a tough and deteriorating economic road through a troubled world, it’s gonna be a wild ride.