Should we support Minorities against the CdE?

By Laszlo Molnarfi, S6HUA.

All views expressed here are my own personal views and are not published as the official opinion of the CdE, unless the CdE formally approves it as such. To the best of my knowledge, all written statements in my article are true, and thus they cannot be considered defamation. All my work falls within the European spectrum of freedom of expression.

“The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interests of the immense majority. The proletariat, the lowest stratum of our present society, cannot stir, cannot raise itself up, without the whole superincumbent strata of official society being sprung into the air.”

States Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in “The Communist Manifesto”^[1], published over one hundred seventy years ago. While many Marxist ideas may be flawed, including the idea of  a society based on collectivism[2] as a whole, there is lot to learn from their striking analysis of society, an analysis which can be applied to understand today’s postmodern condition to which each of us is subjected to. How do the above-mentioned words fit into the subcultural movement at hand?

To comprehend, one must understand that any school is a micro-to-macro projection of society. Issues which present themselves in society soak into the educational system, these include justice, the fragile balance of freedom and authority, the struggle of everyday work and in fact, a whole system of governance is at work, as if our schools were countries, and we its citizens. Class consciousness in the real world, whether one is an avid capitalist or ardent socialist, is undeniably present, with leaders from different societal planes providing impetus for the continued passion of the movement. In support of the idea of class consciousness, one may be a Democrat, or a Republican, but the end goal of the individual is very similar, is it not? A better life is what we all wish for. On the subcultural plane, artists like Banksy or groups like Anonymous execute the wishes of the people; they are the class consciousness, with all of its ideas and contemporary anti-establishment tendencies manifesting itself. It knows no politician, it simply appeals to all, since the ultimate wish of the ninety-nine is the same.

Any educational institution has the same phenomena. Our own class consciousness may have, alas, sharply declined since the golden age of student movements, whereas it took only a spark to set off the wildfire of dissent from our vulnerable position as students, where it now takes a catalyzer of discontent’s fuel, but we are waking up. It may have moved into the background, into ever more quieter whispers, but it shall soon be vocalized for all to hear; the Banksy of our school, Minorities against the CDE^[3], is the strongest public expression of constructive defiance, which is a telltale sign that the embers of peaceful revolution are ready to be lit into a wildfire of tremendous force through the process of vanguardism^[4]. It may seem like a joke site, but it is something much more than that; and when the time comes, should a rule be implemented which is disliked by students (ex. A complete ban on mobile phones as in EEB2) or any organization makes a major mistake for which criticism is warranted, it is certain that they will carry this message to the wider publicum – needless to say that while the goal of Marxism is the complete overthrow of the system, the goal in the case of modern student movements cannot logically be that, it is closer to making progress in the educational system and fighting for student rights. They are decentralized, and they are unstoppable: if one of these sites go down, another one shall appear in its place.

Another reason why we should all seriously consider publicly expressing our feelings of support of Minorities against the CDE towards the administration is the importance of freedom of expression. While they were within their rights to remove the posters, since they own the building, it must be asked; Is this the society we want to have in our school? Not if we wish to fully maintain true European values in our schools. Their posters were not offensive in any way, almost none even used swear words, it was simply an expression of political opinion within the school area – and as we know from legal precedent, students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates, including that of freedom of expression^[5] – as such, the administration should have considered letting them have their platform. It is no question, quasi-hacking the TV screen was against the school rules, but it was a reaction to the deplatforming that occurred, and it cannot be considered unethical according to the non-aggression principle^[6].  However, it would be a sound counterargument to say that what is said, and if what is said is true, there should be no need to hide, and no need to be anonymous to express oneself maturely in a democratic society. In a school environment however it is always questionable whether both parties would maintain the necessary civility for a democratic discourse – for example, would the administration be willing to promise not to punish the students in question? In addition, courts have ruled in protection of anonymous speech, citing that it is a shield against tyranny^[7], because it provides protection from retaliation.  Notwithstanding, they may get more respect from the school if they were to reveal themselves and continue their political activities within the limits the schools sets, should the school allow such actions.

In short, the organization cannot be as easily judged as the administration would want us to – the issues which arise are much more complex and open to debate than a simple case of a student prank. There are arguments from both sides, but the scale of justice may just fall in their favor due to freedom of expression, the non-aggression principle and the inherent morality of student movements.

^[1] The Communist Manifesto Chapter.1: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm

[2] See https://www.debate.org/opinions/is-collectivism-better-than-individualism for arguments from both sides.

^[3] See minorities_against_the_cde and pepe_europeano on Instagram. They put up unauthorized critical posters in school.

^[4] Vanguardism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguardism

^[5] US: TINKER V. DES MOINES, EU: ECHR

^[6] Non-aggression principle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-aggression_principle

^[7] US: McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, EU: ECHR. And no, I am not calling the administration tyrants, I refer to the case law generally.