Fermenting of the Police State In an Ever-Collapsing Universe


Okay, the beast that is my inner punk rocker is fermenting and coming to a rabid head in my consciousness. In our way too long staff meeting today we had a brief lecture on professional conduct as it pertains to things like teachers being on FACEBOOK, having Blogs, etc. I agree with the policy 100% in that one should never display information or photos of students on one's site, but I do resent the notion of self-censorship they seem to be advocating. One must ask: should teachers be held to a higher standard of condauct than others, and, if so, who determines these standards? Is it wrong if a teacher has drunken photos of themselves on their site in the public domain... afterall, you might notice a beer bottle by me if you saw my FACEBOOK picture. At the end of the day, half the literature we study is written by immoral drunken and drug addict bastards - that's part of being an artist afterall! Do we censor that? What if I want to front a Satanic Death Metal band with my friends on the weekends?

We are developing an antibiotic resistant moral culture by our sanitization of people's personal lives. As long as we have free speech and are not breaking any of our nation's laws, then why should it be perceived as scandal? What right does a schoolboard have to dismiss a teacher because they have a picture of themselves partying in Las Vegas or wearing Speedos? The rules should be simple: if no one is being victimised or abused, if no laws are being broken and no message of hatred or ill-tolerence is being promoted, then what business is it of your employer?

Margaret Atwood shows us in "The Handmaid's Tale" the cost of living in a society where we have "freedom from" instead of "freedom to". Orwell and Kafka have given us glimpses into societies under the close scruitiny of Big Brother. In the spirit of Orwell I say "become a thought criminal". The politically correct and moral majority have eclipsed the people of the real world and this needs to be addressed. In the immortal words of Public Enemy: "we gotta fight the power!"

So people, wear your Speedos if you care to and post those St. Paddy's Day photos of you enjoying a few jars with your mates. Be good, but don't riddle your fun with guilt if it's not guilty fun!

PEACE!