Albert Park in Auckland is beautiful at this time of year. The students at the nearby universities are privileged to have such a treasure on their doorstep. It is a wonderful place to sit, to listen to music, or in this case just to come and listen to a speaker. The sign said “Let Women Speak”, and some people came to do just that that – to listen to what Kelly-Jay Keen had to say. But sadly, most of the people there (approximately half of whom were men) had obviously decided they didn’t want to listen – nor would they allow anyone else to listen.
Those of us who resisted the relentless government and media propaganda of the past three years and were routinely subjected to vilification and abuse by strangers purely for having a different opinion, will recognize what happened today in Auckland’s Albert Park.
The similarities are not superficial or coincidental. The ideology fueling these behaviors has been gradually infecting the institutions here in New Zealand and in other Western countries for decades. In particular the universities, once the defenders of free speech, diversity of opinion, and respectful debate, have been rotted out from the inside by people who place activism above rational and civil debate. Universities have become a political monoculture, and the concept of teaching students how to think rather than what to think has been well and truly lost.
The mainstream media bears a lot of responsibility for what happened today – mindlessly repeating the woke narrative. No wonder people are able to whip themselves up into a raging violent mob. Our teachers have failed to teach people how to think critically about their own viewpoints and to listen to alternative viewpoints, so people blindly gobble up the narrative pushed out by the mainstream media.
A friend of mine who went to listen to what Kelly-Jay Keen had to say was sitting some way away with two other women when they were surrounded by a raging mob. They were spat on and made to feel very unsafe. The police close by seemed unconcerned but when they eventually did put in an appearance, they seemed more concerned about policing my friend rather than the hysterical mob. Of course, we have seen this from the police here and elsewhere many times. Those who turn up to shut down debate are protected, while those who turn up to listen are treated as if they are the cause of the disturbance. Is it incompetence, cowardice, orders from above, or is the police force itself so ideologically driven that they have already picked a side?
I saw a comment online from someone who suggested that this might “wake up” New Zealanders. If the behavior of our politicians, media, police, and other institutions over the past 3 years did not wake people in New Zealand up then sadly I doubt whether this will.
Video taken by organizers at the event: Let Women Speak New Zealand – Auckland
darryl.betts 