I was curious to read of the sacking of Eton English teacher Will Knowland for a lecture he had not even delivered to his charges. Knowland was sacked for refusing to remove the lecture he'd prepared from his own YouTube channel. In so doing he contravened the Equality Act, or so claimed Eton head master Simon Henderson, and Knowland was dismissed.
Eton College upholds decision to fire teacher in masculinity row - BBC News
I have just watched the video ‘The Patriarchy Paradox’ on his YouTube channel (link below) and found myself wondering what all the fuss is about. Admittedly, it’s not exactly high-brow but then it was aimed at Eton pupils, i.e. teens not undergraduates or above to engage them and encourage critical thinking and debate. Knowland’s accusers call it ‘offensive’ – a catch-all term, it seems, applied to those who hold views other than those one cherishes.
The Patriarchy Paradox - YouTube (33 minutes)
Eton
teacher dismissed amid free speech row - YouTube (10 minutes)
We are used to examples from history of free speech being curtailed or outlawed under authoritarian regimes, be they of a political or religious nature. Who would consider the same mechanism might be underway in western, post-modern, democratic societies? Surely, a genuinely open, tolerant and free society does not seek to stifle debate and silence people for their (differing) views? And yet this is what we have increasingly become accustomed to witnessing, in both the educational system, social and main stream media.
Who are the accused? Individuals, like J.K. Rowling, who fall foul of adhering to the latest fashionable group-think (Rowling took a stance and dared to critique the seemingly unquestioned and unquestionable agenda of the Trans movement resulting in her being labelled a ‘transphobe’).
Who are the accusers? Minority pressure groups that gain traction primarily through the use of various social media platforms.
Who are (ultimately) the victims? Those that have swallowed wholesale the current ideology that revolves around micro-aggression, safe spaces, trigger warnings and cancel culture for they fail to see how such behaviour and actions harms them and others by way of infantilisation.
Attempting to direct, muzzle or deny other’s opinions in the name of ‘Equality’ is playing a dangerous game and one that will, surely, provoke a backlash. Perhaps the time has come for all of us to look into our own hearts and minds. Do we really want those who shout loudest to speak on our behalf?
