[2033] rlk@ATHENA.MIT.EDU  Flaming_Thoughts  08/03/91 23:18 (27 lines)
Subject: Re: ARD
The particular subset of free speech that you seem interested in addressing
is that which certain elements of the left wing take issue with.  As best
as I can tell, the claim that you're addressing that which relates to the
university is disingenuous.

You have made no effort that I have seen to deal with issues of the right
suppressing speech -- the involvement of the Campus Crusade for Christ in
the pornography issue, the shanty episode, etc.  Yet you seem eager to jump
on any perceived intrusion of the left against free speech, even to the
point of claiming that certain individuals (e. g. Jay Keyser) are "left
wing" without providing any supporting evidence (when the Keysers were
housemasters at Senior House, there were no complaints that I was aware of
that they were "left" -- quite the opposite, in fact).

There have been various right wing student groups formed fairly recently --
Students for Individual Freedom, the MIT Republican Club, etc.  MIT students
are perfectly capable of forming activities that they care enough about.  If
there is no demand strong enough to maintain right wing groups on campus,
perhaps there isn't as much of a "silent majority" as you claim (or perhaps
it has different goals than you seem to believe).  If you want to form a
right wing group on campus, go ahead, but don't confuse the issue by calling
it "freedom of speech".  _The Tech_ always published a wide variety of letters
representing all points of view -- fringe left, fringe right, and moderate.
I have seen no evidence of any organized, deliberate attempts to muzzle
anyone's free speech by _The Tech_ (I use that publication as my example
because it is the primary student publication on campus, 

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