As part of a nationwide effort against the Australian government ending its enforcement of compulsory union fees, thousands of students across the country have taken to the streets in protest. They are obviously not students of simple logic, as their argument, in the words of the President of the National Union of Students, goes like this:
“Let’s be honest, if you didn’t have to pay your taxes you wouldn’t and student organisation fees are exactly the same as that.”
“Students are happy to pay them but if they didn’t have to I don’t think they would.”
I’d be happy to pay taxes if the alternative was a gun to my head, or what amounts to the same. Same if I wanted to attend a uni course and to do so I had to pay union fees. Many leftists when attempting to substantiate their viewpoint use as their benchmark an almost unanimously respected fallacy. Same in this case. If only they would go one step further and see the light. Just imagine the debate and possible consequences if they asked the government, “How are compulsory union payments any different from compulsory tax payments?” After all, the student union “reps” are “elected” in a similar way to politicians.
The mainstream media do not dare to investigate the validity of either sides arguments — they simply report what the opposing sides are saying, or represent one of them. And the mainstream media are an accurate representation of what most people feel (not think). It is not too difficult to venture a guess at what universities are teaching these days.
