Politics
RIDICULOUS: Taxpayer millions blown on teaching “peace activism”
The global financial crisis doesn’t appear to be preventing the taxpayer funded Sydney University Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies to continue instructing students in “peace activism.”
This is not just an academic exercise either, they get hands on in the teaching of “peace activism” including attending demonstrations against visiting US military personnel to Australia.
The Centre for Peace Studies has no fewer than two administrative staff, a director, a co-ordinator, three full-time lecturers (who include the director and co-ordinator), thirteen part-time lecturers and associates and four off-site lecturers.
Since its founding, it has cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
An email sent to us by a member of the VEXNEWS Investigations Unit reveals their most recent activities:
From: “Hannah Middleton” <peace@mira.net>
Dear Friends,
The Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Sydney University will be teaching an exciting new training course in the theory and practice of peace activism this year.
It will include a trip to Queensland in July to participate in the Peace Convergence at the time of the 2009 Talisman Sabre US-Australian war exercises.
The course is open to everyone.
We would be grateful if you could publicise this course among your networks and encourage supporters of peace and justice to register for it.
There is more information in the attached leaflet.
For enquires [sic] and registration, please contact: arts.cpas@usyd.edu.au
or (02)9666 7686
In solidarity
Hannah Middleton
Promotional material for the course declares[pdf] learning objectives to include:
Reading the material carefully, it is basically about teaching people about attend demonstrations and campaigning against war.
This particular course is an example of using Australian taxpayer funds to maximise attendance at a “Peace Convergence” in July to protest against an Australian and US joint military exercise, also partly funded by the Australian taxpayer.
If you listen to the lectures recorded on their website, it is very clear it is ultra-left propaganda of the most fanatical kind. Not necessarily uninteresting propaganda either, but it’s significantly different from what most taxpayers would expect their money to be paying for in our higher education institutions.
It is structured in an academic context, but so could a detailed course be in the Supporting the Essendon Football Club or Fighting the Left in the Major Political Parties but sadly there are no masters degrees available in those disciplines.
War is horrible, to be sure. And one person’s just war is another’s imperialist war drive. But has our community really come to the point where we are willing to subsidise to the tune of millions of dollars a faux academic course that campaigns against all wars regardless of the context?
People who would only want United Nations resolutions moved against the next Hitler are entitled to their view but they are not reasonably entitled to massive taxpayer subsidy for promoting their view and training their peace activists who when you see them in action appear anything but peaceful.
Discussion
8 comments for “RIDICULOUS: Taxpayer millions blown on teaching “peace activism””
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is it 1 april today or something?
Another shameless ultra-left rort of taxpayer’s money.
The peace train must be the GTM Express!
C H O O choo!
Memo to the Left: War is bad. However war is sometimes justified. The fact is, there are Bad People who sometimes need to be on the receiving end of brute force, when a hug just isn’t enough.
Another memo to the Left.
Was the war against Hitler bad… or should we have just hugged him too?
Of course, Hitler and Nazism was leftist…typical of 1930s socialism and initally in a pact with Stalin and supported by the western commies. Just don’t tell the neo-leftistes, it’s too much for them. They’d emote all over the place… truly a disgusting sight!
These guys need to read Hans Morgenthau’s ‘Politics Among Nations’ written straight after WW II. Nothings changed sice then…
Unfortunately I witnessed the future in a news media piece on schoolyard bullies and anti-bullying programs.
In theory, these were a good idea. However, there was a shot of a pre-school classroom featuring a poster stating “If a bully hits me, and I hit him back, that makes me a bully too”.
In other words, Nazis and allies were both just as bad… Hamas and Israel? Just as bad. Right and wrong? Just as bad…