We interview Professor David Haskell of Wilfrid Laurier University about his quitting a University task force created to make recommendations regarding freedom of speech on campus to the Administrators of Laurier University.
This interview followed his presentation, along with Lindsay Shepherd, to the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship’s 2018 AGM at Western University. This presentation can be found on our Youtube channel.
First published in 1943 at a time when the United States was at war with Germany, Italy and Japan, Isabel Paterson’s God of the Machine clarified one of the greatest and most fatal of misunderstandings about the nature of government and governing. Contrary to prevailing belief and opinion, countered Paterson: “It is a mistake to say that ‘Government is Force.’ Force is what IS governed.”
In this regard, no more powerful words have ever been spoken. The great political choice facing mankind is, and always has been, whether that Force should be governed by the Left or by the Right – or by both. At the heart of this moral dilemma lies the answer to why Western society has been so radically drifting towards the Left.
In our continuing discussion about Left and Right, we have already clearly demonstrated that fascism in all its forms is a direct manifestation of the Left, and will continue to do so on over the course of today’s presentation. But beyond the continual misrepresentation that fascism sits on the ‘Right,’ there are still many other popular misinterpretations of the ‘political spectrum’ that require remedy.
One in particular is the notion that the Left – Right ‘spectrum’ represents a gradual transition from ‘Extreme Force’ on the Left, to ‘Degrees of Force’ in the ‘middle,’ and finally to ‘No Force’ on the Right. Unfortunately, this has become a popular viewpoint of many ‘libertarians’ and ‘Objectivists’ who knowingly or not are at odds with the fundamental nature of Objectivism. Continue reading »
Robert Vaughan interviews Lindsay Shepherd about the cult-like nature of certain humanities studies, Left vs Right, and her diminished employment prospects after her showing of a Jordan Peterson clip in class upset her radical Leftist faculty.
This interview followed her presentation to the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship’s 2018 AGM at Western University which can be found on a previous post.
If any proof is still needed that the popular notions of the political ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ are completely erroneous, one need only hear those attempting to use those incorrect frames of reference in a political debate or discussion. If not so tragic, it would be humorous. The conversation will invariably disintegrate into a subjective morass of contradictory and meaningless labels that define nothing and resolve nothing.
That’s exactly what happened at the May 18th Munk Debate, featuring participants Jordan Peterson, Stephen Fry, Michael Dyson and Michelle Goldberg on a resolution about ‘political correctness.’ It also happened at the May 5th Society of Academic Freedom and Scholarship’s (SAFS) event featuring speakers David Haskell, Lindsay Shepherd, and Frances Widdowson during their discussion of free speech on campus.
The confusion arises in failing to recognize that the terms ‘Left’ and ‘Right,’ objectively defined, represent polar opposites, just like ‘north’ and ‘south.’
Unfortunately, the popular and accepted scale of Left and Right place ‘communism’ on the Left and ‘fascism’ on the Right, even though both communism and fascism are not opposites and explicitly sit on the Left. Nowhere on this scale is there a place for individual freedom or capitalism, despite beliefs that they exist on some imaginary ‘center.’ That scale looks like this: Continue reading »
It’s too bad that the substance of U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement at the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec on June 9 was utterly lost on the general public. His message needed to be heard.
The media tirades against Trump’s policy on trade serve a purpose and it is not to enlighten. Their purpose is to create confusion about where Trump stands on free trade, to hide corrupt trade practices like ‘Supply Management’ in Canada, and to express their hatred about the reality that U.S. President Donald Trump holds all the cards – and Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau holds none.
Both the mainstream media and Leftist political interests portray Trump’s threats of tariffs and trade barriers as a threat to the status quo trade that exists now. None want to acknowledge Trump’s strategy as a means to push other nations to drop their own tariffs, barriers, and subsidies – which is exactly what Donald Trump has been telling them he’s doing all along.
“No tariffs. No barriers. No subsidies. That’s the way it should be,” Trump stressed at the G7 Summit, but few have even heard these words, and continue to believe that Trump is against ‘free trade.’ Continue reading »
Lindsay Shepherd recounts her story to the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship.
With a bit of humour and a lot of grace she details the deplorable harassment she received at the hands of those who should have been her objective mentors. The personal consequences she has had to endure for standing up to her tormentors have been substantial.
In this Just Right Media exclusive video Lindsay Shepherd is interviewed by Professor David Haskell on the finer particulars of her predicament at Wilfred Laurier University. The discussion took place at the 2018 AGM of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship and is followed by a question and answer period.
As part of a series of video presentations dealing with academic freedom and freedom of speech we present Dr. Mark Mercer, President of The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship.
Dr. Mercer introduces SAFS, its mission, beliefs, and goals, and follows with “Honest rudeness or insincere civility.”
He is the first of four presenters at the Annual General Meeting of SAFS which took place at the University of Western Ontario on May 5, 2018.