Progressivism has become a hive of the oxymoronic.
It is not enough that they have stolen the mantle of ‘liberal’ and applied it to illiberal views; progressive, modern, society has become inundated with contradictions in every possible facet. Contradictions which are, by their very nature, obvious to anyone except the progressive minds which concoct them.
Take for instance their stance on consent. Liberalism and the concept of consent are one and the same. Herbert Spencer stated in Social Statics that ‘each has freedom to do all that he wills provided that he infringes not the equal freedom of any other’. Therefore, each individual must seek the consent of another in their related actions, otherwise they sacrifice the law of equal liberty. Any action disregarding this equality of liberty, would be a coercive act. An imposition. To consent to something is to act with agency. To act with agency is to exercise your liberty. Progressivism, however, is anathema to consent. For example, the petition for University College Cork to introduce mandatory consent classes, proposed by the UCC Feminist Society. Mandatory. Consent. classes.
It seems that the very concept of consent is sacrificed when you try to make a class on it mandatory. If students are coerced into attending these classes, on threat of punishment, suspension, or even expulsion, then what have they consented to? Students are customers, not employees. An undergraduate course in the Republic of Ireland costs up to €9,467 for an EU/UK student, and up to €45,263 for international students. These are not insignificant sums, and many students deliberately incur debt just for the opportunity to attend University. Without students and their significant financial contributions, these institutions would not exist. Just as in any market, the consumer should receive what they paid for, in this case, an academic education, and not a mandatory lesson in consent. They should dictate the terms to those they employ, rather than exist in a masochistic anomaly where the customer is mandated to capitulate to their service provider.
Now, one might be forgiven for thinking that the aspiration of mandatory consent classes is a wild idea, and that no serious institution would possibly implement such a concept. Not so. Both Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast have already imposed these classes. Mandatory. Consent. Oxymorons.
Yet, mandatory consent classes are the least of their trespasses. There is an ever-growing movement in progressivism self-described as Antifa. Anti-fascism. Now, anyone who has even glanced at a twentieth century history book will agree that fascism is an evil that deserves to be combatted. It is described as ‘extreme authoritarian, oppressive, or intolerant views or practices’. So, what do these anti-fascists do? They no-platform people. That is, they deprive those they disagree with of an opportunity to freely express their truly held opinions. They censor them. In King’s College London , Yaron Brook and Sargon of Akkad were due to have an open discussion on the views and philosophy of Ayn Rand, hosted by the KCL Libertarian Society. What happened? They were attacked by a mob of masked Antifa members. They were denied their platform to speak. Antifa censored them. Anti-fascist. Censorship. Oxymorons.
This is the problem. Increasingly progressives introduce mandates. They label them as being ‘liberal’. The nature of a mandate, is that it is illiberal. They are oxymorons, and they are completely oblivious to their own hypocrisy. Antifa are fascist; Mandatory consent classes are not consensual; and progressivism is not liberal. Calling night day will never make it so. Try telling that to the oxymorons living in the dark.
This piece solely expresses the opinion of the author and not necessarily the organization as a whole. Students For Liberty is committed to facilitating a broad dialogue for liberty, representing a variety of opinions. If you’re a student interested in presenting your perspective on this blog, click here to submit a guest post!
Image: Pixabay
