Demanding academic ownership is not only about you, it is about the freedom of everyone
TL;DR: By taking ownership of your work, you end the system of repression and censorship. Ownership is not only good for you, but you owe it to your country. You have to speak up and demand your spot. If you shut your mouth, you already contribute to the repression and thus are undermining the freedom your country needs. Not only is academic expropriation harmful, and not just a “cultural thing”. In my understanding, academic expropriation and censorship are a crime against humanity regulated under international law and everyone has the duty to stop it right now!
Introduction
I have seen it at my institution. And I found it disgusting. I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to end censorship and expropriation of people. But the only thing people were accepting me to say is nothing.
But the only thing people were accepting me to say is nothing.
How can that be? How can so many people obey a system of censorship and repression, knowing perfectly well that they not only harm themselves, but everyone in their environment? In school, I have learned that human rights, and freedom are the most important principles. Freedom of profession, the right to cultural participation, and the right to health, are human rights as formulated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The UN is rather clear about how to deal with such behaviour, firstly:
individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience imposed by the individual state — Nürnberger Principles
So your disobedience in that case in mandatory. But more so,
crimes against international law are committed by men, not abstract entities, and only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can the provisions of international law be enforced — Nürnberger Principles
Thus, censorship and expropriation are not an abstract act or “a cultural thing”, they are a crime willingly committed by individuals.
I was constantly indoctrinated to pretend the stolen work was not stolen, etc. People would threaten — verbally, physically, socially, politically, monetary.
With so much violence involved, how can we speak about freedom and progress, when all we do is to maintain a system of repression? How can you believe the story of a thief using so much violence? Truth does not need violence.
Even when it is really obvious and people literally copy work others published, the same principles apply. You might think it is a national thing, or it only happens occasionally. But the reality is, that it frequently happens, everybody knows about it, and no one changes anything. Everyone is guilty. And we can track the problem back to the same nations over and over again.
Other nations, e.g. Soutafrica, Iran, Russia they would never do this (to me). And this is roughly where my understanding of the world stopped to make sense. No, they would even acknowledge me and my work!
Personal Consequences
Let’s first look into personal consequences. When someone constantly expropriates your work, you have troubles taking ownership. Without ownership, you can’t gain a track record. Without a track record, you can’t earn money or get funding. Thus, you can’t continue your work. Then you have to leave the field and wasted many years of your life. Great.
However, not only that. You will now constantly be afraid of theft and refrain from communicating ideas and results openly and freely. You may even be afraid to continue working on your projects. Your creativity may suffer.
What if people took your work by entering personal spaces, like your emails, computer, or even your flat? Some may even institutionalize others like the police, or state-owned companies to annoy you with false bills etc.
This constant fear will create so much stress that your body will develop classical symptoms — headaches, digestion issues, allergies, sleep problems. Your mental health adapts too, maybe with depression, or addiction.
To summarize, if you want to waste all your assets: Time, health, money, creativity, energy, happiness and peace, it might be a good idea to go into such an environment. It is not that easy, I know because without the environment, you can’t contribute. We will have to find a way.
Consequences on the cultural level
The cultural consequences are rather clear. A society where young people can’t push progress, is doomed. If we allow the censorship to happen, we betray all the values that we need for our society to function — and eliminate all boundary conditions for creative problem-solving.
With many consequences. People will be unhappy, unhealthy, possibly even aggressive. Their economic output was drastically reduced first, by the expropriation, in some cases by even drastically limiting their willingness to contribute in any meaningful way afterwards. Worse, they might start, maybe out of trauma, to repeat their experiences with others.
Their ability to contribute to society was reduced dramatically. This is beyond cruel. It is insanely stupid. Or the other way around: Academic expropriation is a powerful weapon. It is important to see it as an attack on the integrity of our society. Thus, censors are acting against the national interest and should be treated as such.
Academic expropriation is an act of war against the affected country
Ways out
I am guilty myself. I contributed to censorship, by shutting my mouth. Not being bold enough to speak up is not better than stealing. But these times are over. From now on, I will not contribute to the system of censorship.
It is clear, I am not much better than the censor in the first place, when I shut my mouth. Learning from that insight, the ways out can be:
- Radical Ownership
- Boldness in taking responsibility for your work
- Demanding your sport stubbornly
- Speaking up for others
- Open your mouth
- Accept that some might call you “crazy”, but at least you fight the repression!
Conclusion
We saw that academic expropriation can have dramatic effects on the personal and societal level, and no one should ever allow this to happen. It is against core values of freedom and human rights, and the funding agencies must start to admit that their system is no longer sufficient. The current funding system is undermining the society.
We can break out by taking ownership, e.g. starting our own web server, posting preprints, being stubborn by demanding our spots and work. I am sure that together, we can solve this crisis and make society great again.
See you
So long, and thanks for all the fish, support, and your attention. ⛵️ If you find it useful, please clap-clap and follow me 💪
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