[csaa-forum] bolt, sticks and stones, and a proposal

[Jason Jacobs]

My point is that Andrew Bolt's nasty little attack on Elspeth and 
academics is hardly original. This kind of anti-intellectual philistinism 
clearly has a long history and not only in Australia. What I object to is 
the name-calling personal attacks that really belong to the politics of 
the playground. (In this respect I assume that Danny Butt was being ironic 
with his suggestions, but it is difficult to tell). Academic work, 
particularly in the humanities and related fields, needs to be defended 
precisely when it is irrelevant, when we seek knowledge for its own sake. 
I suspect that some members may smell elitism here, but Susan Nicholls is 
quite right to say that it is an elite we're talking about. And it seems 
to me that that many out there are fighting the good fight in the public 
sphere (most obviously Elspeth and Catharine, but there are others). 


Dr Jason Jacobs
Senior Lecturer
School of Arts, Media and Culture
Griffith University
Nathan Campus
Queensland 4111
Australia
Phone: (07) 3875 5164
Fax: (07) 3875 7730
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