Mick Hartley

An interesting piece in the Telegraph from an anonymous "member of the Oxford Feminist movement":

Privately, many students will confess the sin of agreeing with you. In public, however, it is very different. They’ll dutifully like online posts condemning people like Kathleen Stock, even though they told you how brave they think she is, and how much they loved her book. They’ll vote through motions, even though they don’t actually want to give up their toilets or language. They have their pronouns on their Instagram, even though they find it embarrassing. And sometimes, they’ll even lead the fight to destroy the ideas and people they privately agree with.

All of this creates an illusion that everyone feels the same. A shared psychosis. The emperor’s gender-neutral clothes. Once you realise this, you wonder why everyone keeps doing it, even though they are making themselves and others miserable. Other than social pressure, the answer is often selfish gain.

Oxford is full of very bright and ambitious young people, who want to be a future prime minister. Combined with the entitlement of many Oxford students, this is a dangerous mix. They will do anything to get there, and from today’s society, they have learned that “cancelling”, virtue signalling and silencing is the way to do it. They spend as much of their days searching for a person to “call out” or a cause to rally against, as they do in libraries. They will race to be first, and ask questions later. Accuse or be accused. There are no limits to the lows they will sink or the backs they will stab….

Given all this, it is unsurprising that free speech is struggling here. However, do not be fooled into thinking that this means students do not want it. When the above tactics are used to gain and maintain power by the few who wield them best, it is unsurprising that the resulting student governing bodies are so aggressively and unrepresentatively woke.

A collective sigh of relief was released across the city when academics wrote their letter in support of free speech. The university’s environment can make you feel like you’re the only one that’s sane, and this is intentional. Perhaps the letter will break the collective spell that lingers over the dreaming spires, and students will wake up to realise that they have nothing to fear and everything to gain from valuing discussion and debate, and more will become braver too.

Depressing. A hothouse: like the outside world, but with the worst stuff magnified.