Friday, November 07, 2003



Another step down the slippery slope, part II

Running Blog Capitalist accuses me of being a "fair-weather socialist" for objecting to the US government's attack on academic freedom. For some reason he conflates government funding with government control, but the real clanger is his claim that "this isn't an attack on any kind of freedom". Come off it! It's an explicit attempt to impose financial penalties on institutions that fail to toe the administration's line. If that isn't an attack on the freedom of speech of academics, then what is?

In a democratic society, government funding of academic institutions should not be subject to content-based tests. Private individuals can apply such tests, but the State cannot.

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