Western Civilization, the media, and political irresponsibility

Analogies with mass-murdering communist regimes are common with these columnists. When journalist Stan Grant suggested last year that plaques on colonial monuments be corrected or augmented, and others argued they should be removed because they celebrated men who ordered massacres or engaged in slavery, conservatives accused them of "Stalinism" and "political correctness on steroids." During the 1960s and 1970s, conservatives blamed Adorno for RAF terrorism.

And Sheridan et al accuse me of inflammatory comparisons.

Clearly, much depends on whether the Ramsay Center buys into this partisan and extremist rhetoric. Some members of its board will doubtless work hard to ensure that it does. The next few weeks will be interesting.

But the bigger question is this: if the government is so concerned about the humanities in Australia, why does it not change the funding model that disadvantages them compared to the social sciences?