Well presented. I will nitpick at one thing: calling the attempt to assassinate Trump as him being "earsnicked" is trivializing. As for Free Speech, we are free to speak and free to take the consequences of having spoken. The real issue is our political system which has "structures" (laws, positions of power, etc.) in place to dole out consequences as well as being the ones who determine which speech deserves what consequences. Break down that system and rebuild from the principle of individual rights, and many of today's ills will fade away like mist.
Thanks for reading and sharing AC! Sure, I meant not to trivialize it. It was one of the most astounding and shocking things I've seen on live television. Do you mean, for instance, how an organization like a university can interpret something as 'hate speech' to justify a Professor's cancellation? I would be interested to see how your suggestion would operate exactly. Have you written any utopian fiction on the possibility haha?
The issue with the university comes down to property rights, which gets muddled if the university is not PRIVATE but gets money from TAXATION or other such sources acquired through the FORCE exerted by some government entity. If a PRIVATE university wants to have a policy saying that certain words, phrases, or even actions constitutes some infringement on the rights of individuals attending or employed by the university, that is the university’s right. Tough to accept, I think. But we have the free choice to avoid that university. My comment was broader than that. I see most governments as institutionalized violators of individual rights. My Freelan novel series shows this and how people stand up to and change it. The series is massive right now. I’m working to get the first book, The Journey of Peter Thorn, ready to submit to a publisher. But the real meat is Freelan: The Dawning where the struggle takes place.
Yes, I agree that although tough to accept, and seemingly against the mission of academic inquiry, a private institution can limit the boundaries of what can be said; though normal unfair termination laws can come into place. In my country, I'm not even sure if we have a private university - all of them (at least the main ones) - are publicly funded through taxes, as you say. Oh wow, that's awesome! Have you had any issues navigating that publishing world so far?
Heavy sigh. When there is a mix of private and public, the normal rules get skewed. Through taxation (theft by government force), we pay for a lot of things that we would not otherwise support, one being the ousting of a professor over what some people call "hate speech." As for the Freelan works, I content myself with getting my genre fiction published. And I try to imbue my stories and characters with certain traits that drive and fit the narrative. Hubby is my co-author on the Freelan books. He's reading through The Journey of Peter Thorn right now and enjoying it so far as well as adding his own touches, making sure I get the philosophy (and the psychology) right. Psychology is so important to well-rounded literary characters. Otherwise, things don't make sense. Sometimes, authors fudge and have a character do something contrary to how he/she should behave according to what has proceeded that action. Hope you're finding my stories to be true in that way. Waving hello from across the globe!
I hear your sigh, haha. Yes, the dilemma of positive versus negative rights (also - what is a fundamental right and what isn't?). Mmm, that's great you can get help from your husband on those things. Personality is key in creating a good character; they need to act in concordance with past actions. I would say I haven't thought about that in the couple of stories I have read of yours from the Wind Down the Chimney. Meaning, in its most basic form, my suspension of disbelief wasn't harmed by me suddenly noticing your characters are 'unrealistic'. It's actually a very interesting topic - we can envisage wonderful and fantastical worlds, with all sorts of magic and new technologies and monsters - which are quite clearly NOT REAL - but if the characters don't represent or reflect reality in their personalities and character traits (even demons and angels, superhumans etc), then audiences are going to be like, "meh". Waving back! Hope you're enjoying the summer.
Well presented. I will nitpick at one thing: calling the attempt to assassinate Trump as him being "earsnicked" is trivializing. As for Free Speech, we are free to speak and free to take the consequences of having spoken. The real issue is our political system which has "structures" (laws, positions of power, etc.) in place to dole out consequences as well as being the ones who determine which speech deserves what consequences. Break down that system and rebuild from the principle of individual rights, and many of today's ills will fade away like mist.
Thanks for reading and sharing AC! Sure, I meant not to trivialize it. It was one of the most astounding and shocking things I've seen on live television. Do you mean, for instance, how an organization like a university can interpret something as 'hate speech' to justify a Professor's cancellation? I would be interested to see how your suggestion would operate exactly. Have you written any utopian fiction on the possibility haha?
The issue with the university comes down to property rights, which gets muddled if the university is not PRIVATE but gets money from TAXATION or other such sources acquired through the FORCE exerted by some government entity. If a PRIVATE university wants to have a policy saying that certain words, phrases, or even actions constitutes some infringement on the rights of individuals attending or employed by the university, that is the university’s right. Tough to accept, I think. But we have the free choice to avoid that university. My comment was broader than that. I see most governments as institutionalized violators of individual rights. My Freelan novel series shows this and how people stand up to and change it. The series is massive right now. I’m working to get the first book, The Journey of Peter Thorn, ready to submit to a publisher. But the real meat is Freelan: The Dawning where the struggle takes place.
Yes, I agree that although tough to accept, and seemingly against the mission of academic inquiry, a private institution can limit the boundaries of what can be said; though normal unfair termination laws can come into place. In my country, I'm not even sure if we have a private university - all of them (at least the main ones) - are publicly funded through taxes, as you say. Oh wow, that's awesome! Have you had any issues navigating that publishing world so far?
Heavy sigh. When there is a mix of private and public, the normal rules get skewed. Through taxation (theft by government force), we pay for a lot of things that we would not otherwise support, one being the ousting of a professor over what some people call "hate speech." As for the Freelan works, I content myself with getting my genre fiction published. And I try to imbue my stories and characters with certain traits that drive and fit the narrative. Hubby is my co-author on the Freelan books. He's reading through The Journey of Peter Thorn right now and enjoying it so far as well as adding his own touches, making sure I get the philosophy (and the psychology) right. Psychology is so important to well-rounded literary characters. Otherwise, things don't make sense. Sometimes, authors fudge and have a character do something contrary to how he/she should behave according to what has proceeded that action. Hope you're finding my stories to be true in that way. Waving hello from across the globe!
I hear your sigh, haha. Yes, the dilemma of positive versus negative rights (also - what is a fundamental right and what isn't?). Mmm, that's great you can get help from your husband on those things. Personality is key in creating a good character; they need to act in concordance with past actions. I would say I haven't thought about that in the couple of stories I have read of yours from the Wind Down the Chimney. Meaning, in its most basic form, my suspension of disbelief wasn't harmed by me suddenly noticing your characters are 'unrealistic'. It's actually a very interesting topic - we can envisage wonderful and fantastical worlds, with all sorts of magic and new technologies and monsters - which are quite clearly NOT REAL - but if the characters don't represent or reflect reality in their personalities and character traits (even demons and angels, superhumans etc), then audiences are going to be like, "meh". Waving back! Hope you're enjoying the summer.