Orwell Was Right.

Public funding of academic research is being called into question in Britain, on account of allegations that the government, more or less, conditions its help on the research being in line with its priorities. Although there is nothing wrong with urging academia to respond to pressing social issues, forcing it to do so is contrary to democratic and libertarian traditions that universities are supposed to live by and uphold.

During the Cold War, we in the West were constantly told that there was no freedom behind the Iron Curtain; that intellectuals were not allowed to pursue their interests independently; that the State dictated what was taught at all educational levels. In the last decade, at least, we see democracies acting more and more like those totalitarian regimes that they criticized so much. Freedom and human rights are given a lot of lip service, but, when push comes to shove, the Orwellian inclinations come to the fore.

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