Neo-Fascist Censorship

[JamilD]

Hello all,

I don't usually frequent this forum as much, but I tried to visit RevLeft at the Catholic school I attend (won't name the school, but it is in the York Region Catholic District School Board, Canada), only to find out that it's blocked, completely restricted access to.

This heightened my curiosity, and I tried visiting neo-Nazi and White Pride websites, and, of course, none of them were blocked.

Websites that criticized Christianity? Blocked.

Do schools have the right to censor opposing ideologies? I can understand restricting access to games and Facebook, but to a simple forum that encourages free thinking? It's completely ridiculous.

I'm not a Communist (although a former Marxist); actually I'm a Liberal social capitalist, but I still think that the right to freedom of speech and association should remain paramount.

What's your opinion?

--Jamil

[Guerrilla]

A liberal social capitalist with both Stalin and Trotsky in their signature? Wow. :rolleyes:

[JamilD]

Yeah, I don't look at Stalin as exactly a great guy, but I can show a lot of respect for Trotsky. There are great ideas in every ideology, of course :)

[Q]

A liberal social capitalist with both Stalin and Trotsky in their signature? Wow. :rolleyes:

Please don't troll.

[Sam_b]

I'd be quite interested to know how this is 'neo-fascism'.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

The purpose of education in North America and most other places is indoctrination. Racist and right wing websites are not a threat to the system. You are right to be frustrated at restriction of information in your school but that is a small drop in the bucket. In the US the media is tightly controlled.Last year the anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan ran against Nancy Pelosi, (the US Speaker of the House). Sheehan got 20% of the vote. Pretty dramatic but there was a complete media blackout, not a word of this was reported in the corporate media. In 2005 the leftist mayor of Mexico City, Obrador, was arrested. A million people came to demonstrate. Very dramatic but not a word of this in the US media.
There was a West Coast dockworkers strike two years ago. Ports from San Diego to Vancouver were shut down in a symbolic one day protest against the war.Many people in the US don't know this ever happened.Many other important events like this are simply not reported.

News that is reported is twisted to fit the needs of the ruling class, as Noam Chomsky and others have explained. There is an alternate media but its small, run on a shoe-string budget, and high school students like you are aren't allowed to see it.

Most likely your school uses filtering software that screens for "communism", "Marx", etc. Have you tried anarchist oriented sites-infoshop or alternet?

Also, if I may ask, why are you a former Marxist? That may be the exact intention of your school. You're ideas are completely up to you of course but you're young and possibly still exploring. You wouldn't be fair to yourself if you closed off options too soon.

[Foldered]

Also, if I may ask, why are you a former Marxist?
I was going to ask this, too, with obviously no intention to put you on the spot.

It doesn't surprise me, for the reasons Rosenweg has explained, and for others. The fact that any sites, regardless of content, are blocked is frustrating for me. When I was in school (and the internet was only just becoming widely in use) there were no such things as filters like this, so naturally I don't know what their impacts are. I understand that schools would like to block pornography, but that even frustrates me in a way.

[Weezer]

Hello all,

I don't usually frequent this forum as much, but I tried to visit RevLeft at the Catholic school I attend (won't name the school, but it is in the York Region Catholic District School Board, Canada), only to find out that it's blocked, completely restricted access to.

This heightened my curiosity, and I tried visiting neo-Nazi and White Pride websites, and, of course, none of them were blocked.

Websites that criticized Christianity? Blocked.

Do schools have the right to censor opposing ideologies?

--Jamil

Schools shouldn't censor anything.

[JamilD]

The purpose of education in North America and most other places is indoctrination. Racist and right wing websites are not a threat to the system. You are right to be frustrated at restriction of information in your school but that is a small drop in the bucket. In the US the media is tightly controlled.Last year the anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan ran against Nancy Pelosi, (the US Speaker of the House). Sheehan got 20% of the vote. Pretty dramatic but there was a complete media blackout, not a word of this was reported in the corporate media. In 2005 the leftist mayor of Mexico City, Obrador, was arrested. A million people came to demonstrate. Very dramatic but not a word of this in the US media.
There was a West Coast dockworkers strike two years ago. Ports from San Diego to Vancouver were shut down in a symbolic one day protest against the war.Many people in the US don't know this ever happened.Many other important events like this are simply not reported.

News that is reported is twisted to fit the needs of the ruling class, as Noam Chomsky and others have explained. There is an alternate media but its small, run on a shoe-string budget, and high school students like you are aren't allowed to see it.

Most likely your school uses filtering software that screens for "communism", "Marx", etc. Have you tried anarchist oriented sites-infoshop or alternet?

Also, if I may ask, why are you a former Marxist? That may be the exact intention of your school. You're ideas are completely up to you of course but you're young and possibly still exploring. You wouldn't be fair to yourself if you closed off options too soon.

Wow, thanks for the excellent insight! :) I've read some Chomsky before, but I haven't heard of any the events you referenced.

I'm a former Marxist simply because I drifted away from it. Call it the effect of thoughtpolicing if you will, but I ended up joining the Liberal Party of Canada, which is sort of a centre-left party. I don't think I'm ready for such a radical idea as Marxism; to support the cause requires a lot of sacrifices, and I guess I'm too scared to take them :)

[Foldered]

I'm a former Marxist simply because I drifted away from it. Call it the effect of thoughtpolicing if you will, but I ended up joining the Liberal Party of Canada, which is sort of a centre-left party.
Emphasis on the centre.


I don't think I'm ready for such a radical idea as Marxism; to support the cause requires a lot of sacrifices, and I guess I'm too scared to take them :)
That's understandable, but have you considered in looking into the Communist Party of Canada? I'd simply suggest leaving yourself a little more open, especially considering that you're young.
I mean, if you're posting on RevLeft and respecting people's opinions on here, I don't think the Liberal Party of Canada is for you. ;)

[JamilD]

Emphasis on the centre.

That's understandable, but have you considered in looking into the Communist Party of Canada? I'd simply suggest leaving yourself a little more open, especially considering that you're young.
I mean, if you're posting on RevLeft and respecting people's opinions on here, I don't think the Liberal Party of Canada is for you. ;)

Haha, I see your point there :) But I've been all over the spectrum over the past few years on the left, and I frequent some rightist forums also. I try and search for new ideas, and I would respect near every other opinion; I mean, I'm sure you've met some sensible arguments from the right :P

I can keep my options open, that's why I'm here as well, although I am shifting a bit towards the left.

Still can't figure out why a revolution is necessary though (Revolutionary left), wasn't it Khrushchev that said "We can't expect the American people to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken they have Communism"

[CartCollector]

Still can't figure out why a revolution is necessary though (Revolutionary left), wasn't it Khrushchev that said "We can't expect the American people to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken they have Communism"
Krushchev didn't live in America. Don't know about Canada, but any time a politician here in the US tries to do anything moderately left (like health care reform) it doesn't happen, or if it does it's horribly mangled. Case in point, Obama set out to add a "public option" that people who couldn't afford private insurance could get cheap insurance from the government. What do we end up with? People without insurance being forced to pay a fine. And even that 'reform' was close to not passing! Not to mention even if some moderate reform or regulation does get through, chances are it'll be removed within a couple years with great fanfare about the "deregulation."

Kruschev can try giving small doses of socialism to America all he wants, but the bourgeoisie is no fool. It's very, very sensitive to even the smallest doses that you could imagine.

[Q]

"Small doses of socialism" is not something to be gained within the parliamentary system, even the most leftwing politician will buckle under pressure, case in point: the "healthcare reform" of Obama (read this (http://socialistalternative.org/news/article10.php?id=1328) and this (http://cpgb.org.uk/article.php?article_id=1003889) article for more background).

You can't negotiate over something which you don't have, is an old military paradigm. Our battles are direct confrontations with the ruling class, the class struggle. The ruling class, in an attempt to let off steam, can then give concessions. Or "small doses of socialism" if you will.

[mikelepore]

If an internet provider blocks some web sites that you want to use, try going to

http://anonymouse.org/anonwww.html

and entering the URL of a blocked site.

[BOZG]

I'd be quite interested to know how this is 'neo-fascism'.

Exactly. This site needs some sort of verification filter for every time someone attempts to post the word "fascism".

[Chambered Word]

Wow, thanks for the excellent insight! :) I've read some Chomsky before, but I haven't heard of any the events you referenced.

I'm a former Marxist simply because I drifted away from it. Call it the effect of thoughtpolicing if you will, but I ended up joining the Liberal Party of Canada, which is sort of a centre-left party. I don't think I'm ready for such a radical idea as Marxism; to support the cause requires a lot of sacrifices, and I guess I'm too scared to take them :)

I've never been able to understand why people drift away from certain ideologies and ideas due to some reaction against the other people who believe in them, or pressure from others who they are involved with in political action etc.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

I'm a former Marxist simply because I drifted away from it. Call it the effect of thoughtpolicing if you will, but I ended up joining the Liberal Party of Canada, which is sort of a centre-left party. I don't think I'm ready for such a radical idea as Marxism; to support the cause requires a lot of sacrifices, and I guess I'm too scared to take them




Its not easy, or fun, being a Marxist, at least not for me. Some years ago I first read Chomsky (although he's not a Marxist). It made my blood boil. I thought he was right, but I didn't enjoy thinking this way. It is not easy going against social conditioning, what you hear from the media, your teachers, and society. Many times I wished I could be a liberal. Its psychologically a lot easier.

"The problems of our society and our world are because of a failure of leadership. Let's get rid of Bush (or in your case Harper) and get in somebody with half a brain."

This sentiment is true as far as it goes but a lot of reading from different sources and personal experiences has convinced me the problems are far deeper. Why are banks, making obscene profits, being bailed out while the US has a 10% unemployment rate? Why is the US and Canada in Afghanistan, a war even the mainstream media says is set to be a disaster and the vast majority of people oppose? Why was Stephen Harper allowed to shut down Parliament in a "democracy" and why did he have to do this?

Unfortunately, the situation will get worse. Whenever the Great Recession ends, the jobs aren't coming back. Everyone, unless they're very wealthy, will experience a lot of pain. A friend of mine told me recently, "Whoever is president in 20 years will have to be very mean, in order to continue extracting sufficient surplus value for the ruling class.Why not just have a different system ?".

I see you have Stalin and Trotsky in your sig, (actually Workers World used to have Stalin and Trotsky on the front page of their paper for a while, your'e not the only one) you're a Liberal, and you're on Revleft. Obviously you're looking for something.

Sometimes one has to jump off the fence. Increasingly people will have to fight back. We won't have a choice. Admittedly it took me a very long time.

Sorry for the soapbox, but that's what revleft is for.

[anticap]

Its not easy, or fun, being a Marxist

No, and this is something I've thought about a fair bit.

Declare yourself in opposition to the fundamental premises of the prevailing system, and you declare yourself an outsider. That's not to say that you can't participate in the culture, but it will continuously irritate you in various ways. Your work won't be merely a means to survive, but a daily reminder of the exploitation of yourself and the rest of the working class. You'll see injustice everywhere you look, but to do anything about it will seem nearly impossible.

Our opposites, the "radical"-right (i.e., right-"libertarians"), don't share anywhere near the same level of discomfort. To the contrary: they derive comfort from their position. They support the fundamental premises of private property, wage labor, etc.; their only complaint is that those fundamentals are being hampered by pesky politicians. They have the luxury of working for a boss without finding fault in that arrangement; their only complaint is that those pesky politicians take such a big bite out of their ass every week. In short, they get to participate enthusiastically in the system and its culture, while enjoying the comfort of a release-valve for their normal human tensions.

It's easy to oppose the status quo from inside, as it were, when you accept the premises and the supporting narratives, but only wish for them to be purified; it's hard to oppose it from the outside, when you would enjoy nothing more than to smash its very foundations.