Andrew Bolt simply does not understand Marxism

Liberal rights are critical. I support Andrew Bolt's liberal rights funnily enough. But those liberal rights are hollowed out when in practice they come to apply overwhelmingly to the rights of 'the establishment.' And where educators who want to impart a critical disposition above all - are portrayed as 'trouble-makers' - or dismissed as Marxists. And because of pre-existing prejudices the media establishment feels it doesn't have to include those voices except at the outer periphery.

Marxist perspectives should be included in civil society and in curricula - alongside liberal, conservative and Green perspectives. Even fascism should be wrestled with - if for no other reason than that people understand what it is and how it came about in the past. Pluralism is the creed of any healthy democracy. Teaching people not only to understand their interests - but to wrestle with their beliefs and values - is also necessary.

Recent attacks against the ABC might also be understood in the sense that the accommodation of even moderate left perspectives potentially leads to a greater plurality of competing viewpoints - which is something the authoritarian Right fears.

It's time for a re-evaluation of the truth about the democratic Left. And it's time the Australian people made it clear they will not stand for the erosion of their liberal rights; or the erosion of the pluralism which is at the heart of any robust democracy.

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