The artist Ai Weiwei, in the NYT here:
Whenever the state controls or blocks information, it not only reasserts its absolute power; it also elicits from the people whom it rules a voluntary submission to the system and an acknowledgment of its dominion. This, in turn, supports the axiom of the debased: Accept dependency in return for practical benefits. There are, of course always people that will rebel against this censorship. The information available online for example has become increasingly doctored by the state, but people will always find a way around it, using the likes of a Pirate Bay proxy to access said information.
The most elegant way to adjust to censorship is to engage in self-censorship. It is the perfect method for allying with power and setting the stage for the mutual exchange of benefit. The act of kowtowing to power in order to receive small pleasures may seem minor; but without it, the brutal assault of the censorship system would not be possible.
For people who accept this passive position toward authority, “getting by” becomes the supreme value. They smile, bow and nod their heads, and such behavior usually leads to lifestyles that are comfortable, trouble free and even cushy. This attitude is essentially defensive on their part. It is obvious that in any dispute, if one side is silenced, the words of the other side will go unquestioned.
The UO Public Records Log is here. Not many requests from faculty lately, including me.
What artist Weiwei says certainly applies to academia today.
Related — very interesting articles today in Emerald about what it’s like for conservative and Republican students at UO.
Maybe gives some insight into why such students respond as the most “marginalized” in that poll that UOM posted recently.