The Struggle against Academic Censorship

Dr. Benedict Beckeld discusses the struggle against academic censorship and the collapse of induction.
(Sorry for the audio quality in the two clips; my editing resources are limited.)
Link to Lotus Eaters Interview with me:
lotuseaters.com/oikophobia-an...
Link to initial Lotus Eaters discussion:
www.lotuseaters.com/premium-s...
KZbin excerpt: • After The End Of History
Paris Institute for Critical Thinking interview:
• Bookaholics #13: Bened...
National Association of Scholars review:
www.nas.org/academic-question...
Reading from:
Benedict Beckeld, "Western Self-Contempt: Oikophobia in the Decline of Civilizations" (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2022), p. 97.
a.co/d/3nWpD3l
Image credits:
Lotus Eaters hosts
Still from Symposium #15: www.lotuseaters.com/premium-s...
Carl Benjamin
Date: 22 October 2018
Source: KZbin : KZbin vs Mainstream Media, with Carl Benjamin (Sargon of Akkad)
Author: Rebel Wisdom
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Rebel Wisdom, CC BY 3.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Twitter: / benedictbeckeld
Facebook: / benedictbeckeld
My website: www.benedictbeckeld.com

[@solomontruthlover5308]

Unbelievable

[@honieebean]

It's sad to see the mean girl antics happening in academics and publishing

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Funny way of putting it!

[@anomyxstudios1431]

Well done!

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you!

[@sloppynumber12]

Great work

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thanks!

[@jebjeb1498]

I now speak my mind on every 'hot button' topic knowing that my compatriots are either frightened to do so or are misinformed or uninformed.Im lucky Im retired so bear no penalty and Im just an ordinary person.Every contributor I value uses empirical analysis coupled with vast historical understanding so I benefit personally from their wisdom.My profession taught me empirically the complexity of human motivation and the very dark side of human nature and the study of history of course corroborates that experience.I find it wonderful that the Lotus Eaters brought your work to an audience probably desparate to make sense of the huge cultural and political shift they find alien and dangerous.No surprise unfortunately that the Left are censorious.They thrive on the cowardice of others and destruction of reputation if any one dares question their project.They have to be fought politically and intellectually.I am grateful you have to intellectual and personal fortitude to enter the fray fearlessly with integrity.Thank you.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you very much for your kind words of support! (And being retired sounds quite nice, I must say.) And you won't be surprised to hear that I agree with everything you write here. I'm not stopping any time soon. And, if I may ask, what was your profession that taught you the dark side of human nature?

[@jebjeb1498]

@@BenedictBeckeld I was that most reviled of creatures,a police officer in a British city.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

@@jebjeb1498 That was my guess. I have a great amount of respect for you and your colleagues. I live in New York City, and we desperately need the police. It's unbelievable to think that grown adults in positions of power can believe that "defunding the police" is a good idea. Thank you for having done what you did.

[@jebjeb1498]

@@BenedictBeckeld I agree .Floyd's death was The Holy Grail for the Left.Id seen it on a smaller scale in 1980s Britain.Criminality is always someone or something else's fault.One of our colleagues ,Constable Keith Blakelock, was hacked to death (47 stab wounds ,nearly decapitated) by a mob in a London riot.It really isnt pretty when violent anarchy rules as you will know very well from history (loved the Greek column turning into the guillotine btw on the book cover) and the so called 'Summer of Love' when the ochlocracy seized power. I was taught history by a WW2 Far Eastern vet.Civilised patriotic man with a love for his country which was normal then and still survives despite th onslaught .I still think of him affectionately as he virtually made me what I am..No racist or 'white supremacist' just a seeker of what is true and a wish to defend the law abiding decent population whatever colour or creed.Racialised 'everything ' is utter toxic poison especially on those mean streets.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

@@jebjeb1498 That's a horrible case (Constable Blakelock), just read about it now. Indeed we live in a semi-ochlocracy right now that is so racist that it sees race in everything. But it helps to know that there are like-minded people out there.

[@colinharbinson8284]

Poor audio quality is far outweighed by the studied eloquence of this post.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thanks very much!

[@StephenCowley001]

Induction (as usually defined) is a formally invalid mode of argument. Broader conclusions can be arrived at in other ways (e.g. "A, therefore things like A are a real possibility"). Interesting to learn about academia and the publication process though.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

I myself am a devotee of Hume (including of his view of induction), but I'm not using "valid" in a formal sense here (which is why I say "empirically valid" rather than "logically valid").

[@drgnnut]

"Posterity will be on your side" is just another way of saying "you'll be on the right side of history". If you want to make progress against them, you have to reject their framing. Doing something because of how you'll be remembered for it is a bad moral framework.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Yes, I know, it wasn't meant in a stringent philosophical sense, but as a bit of a call to arms, if you will. In my book (and especially in an upcoming book chapter on pseudo-conservatism) I discuss extensively how this progressive moral framing has afflicted putative conservatives.

[@metsdudenj]

this man is hot and stunning