Freedom-lovers! If you live on Waiheke Island, or thinking about a lovely place to visit over the weekend, read on because here's an event for you to attend on Sunday!
I received this email from Roderick Mulgan:
Why does cancel culture work? Because people let cancel culture work.
Why is it a thing? Because we're willing to give in to the bullies.
I've just gotten off the phone with Jonathan, who unfortunately has told me that cancel culture has struck once again- this time against us.
On Sunday, Jonathan and some of the team are going to Waiheke Island at the invitation of a community group there to talk about free speech, and what's at stake if we don't defend it. It was going to be a fairly laid-back affair over some nice coffee and brunch at Nomads Cafe.
When the group 'Anti-Fascist Waiheke' heard about this, they took it upon themselves to contact the owner of the cafe where we had arranged to meet.
The owner claimed to be a supporter of the Free Speech Union, but then he received a single text, and saw one Facebook post, and that was enough to cancel the event.
The local coppa is even a supporter of ours and had said he'd hang around to ensure everything was peaceful.
Look, on one hand, I get it. The owner of Nomads is just trying to run his business, and doesn't want to get caught up in any nastiness. Our team contacted him and said we'd pay a bond. If there was major disruption because of our presence, we'd use that to cover the inconvenience.
But he just wanted us to go away.
Isn't that the way it is, so often? We just want the problem to go away. Even though by ignoring the problem, we're making it worse, and much harder to deal with next time.
It's ironic that 'Anti-Fascist Waiheke' tried to cancel a discussion on free speech- that seems pretty fascistic to me.
And that's the reality of our time, those who cry the most about fascism are those most willing to throw their weight around to silence those who disagree with them.
Could someone please send Anti-Fascist Waiheke the definition of 'fascist'... or maybe just a mirror?
Never fear, Gary, we acquired a new venue for our meeting in less than 40 minutes.
Here's my point- if we say we're for free speech, except that in our day and age, that might not always be popular. We're at this point as a culture because we've kept on trying the 'popular' path, and not stood up for the fact that free speech means others can say things you disagree with.
If I can be perfectly honest, I'm almost more annoyed at Nomads than at Anti-Fascist Waiheke. While Anti-Fascist Waiheke's ideas are misguided, at least they're doing something about them. The owner of Nomads claims he likes the work of the Free Speech Union that's needed at this time. But when a single text is sent or a single Facebook comment (which had a sum total of 1 'like' on it) posted, they ran. Who's ponying up with the courage to stand for their values?
This is why cancel culture works. Because we let it work. How do we stop cancel culture from working?
Stop letting it work.
If you're in Auckland, come along and hear Jonathan and the team on Sunday from 10:30 at The Loft, 26 Tahi Road Ostend Waiheke Island.
Cheers,
Dr. Roderick Mulgan Council Chair Free Speech Union www.fsu.nz
TLDR (too long, didn't read): FSU event at Waiheke was cancelled because of activists, but is back on. Also, don't let cancel culture bullies get away with it by giving in to them.
Gary:
The video below mocking the Judean People's Front mirrors the extreme stance taken by Anti-Fascist Waiheke. Anti-Fascist Waiheke likely involves a few misguided individuals with nothing better to do with their time than to complain and meddle in others' activities.