Weekly Brief
Is academic freedom in the Philippines really under threat? The sensible ones amongst us are inclined to disagree.
In review and in prospect
What really are the most important issues to do with education in the Philippines? If we are to believe the “activist” communities of the Philippines’ top universities, we'd be led to believe that “academic freedom” is foremost amongst them. For this noisy community, “dissent” is the highest form of achievement of a university student or member of the academe. What specific aspect of “dissent” in particular, you ask the average “activist”? Why, dissent against the abuse of power perpetrated by the powerful of course, helloooo.
And so, there it is. Education in the Philippines is fucked because the ol’ “human right” to “dissent” is “under threat” ad perpetuam. What is it exactly in scholarship in the Philippines that is being “suppressed” by “the powerful”? That seems to depend on who you ask. Communist radicals who account for the bulk of the shrill Philippine “activist” community — the Colgate of Philippine activism — will defer to their template slogans. Giving “a voice to the masses” is what it's all about, see. That this is some sort of a “fight” being mounted by the “courageous” is hard to believe because these “activists” are perfectly free to mount their “activism” whenever and wherever as long as they have the required permits. No courage required there.
On the other side of the pole are students of the hard sciences. Do members of this community believe “academic freedom” in the sciences is under threat”? One would be hard-pressed to cite specific instances of scientific inquiry being suppressed by “the powerful”. For that matter, scientific inquiry isn't exactly a mainstream topic in Philippine society to begin with. A notable exception, perhaps, are the sciences that directly pose a critical challenge to the woke dogma of the folk on the other end of the pole who believe “identifying” as something makes someone that thing.
So, okay, it seems that the only real threat to “academic freedom” comes from the people who bore us with their noisy “activism”. It has come to a point where citing evidence of the binary nature of sexual reproduction can get you burnt at the stake, for example.
When we get around to thinking through what really is important as far as Filipinos’ intellectual faculties are involved we should pause and consider whether it is the people with the loudest voices we should be listening to or, quite simply, the ones who make actual sense.
Last week's blog posts
The administration of the University of the Philippines is NOT a democracy
April 6, 2023 by benign0
"What was Tuazon smoking when she peppered her article with all this 'activist' bullshit? Nowhere is it documented that who gets to be chancellor is determined 'by the people'."
UP Diliman “activists” who destroyed university property should be EXPELLED
April 4, 2023 by benign0
"Filipino 'activists' believe they are entitled to engage in illegal behaviour on the basis of the self-attributed 'nobleness' of their advocacy. However, belief in one’s own righteousness is not a sound defense for breaking the law."