First they came...

With apologies to Martin Niemöller:

FIRST THEY CAME for the History and Philosophy program at OISE,

and I only signed the petition because I was in Adult Ed.

THEN THEY CAME for the Comparative Literature program originated by Northrop Frye,

and I didn't speak up because, who needs critical literary theory anyway?

THEN THEY CAME for all the language and culture programs,

and I didn't speak up because, you know, English is good enough for the global economy.

THEN THEY CAME for those who deal with contemporary issues in a way that is not mainstream,

and by that time, there were no organic intellectuals who could think outside of hegemony; who had any understanding of the importance of cultural context; who could fathom that the contemporary world is fundamentally different from 20th century industrialization; who could realize that there is more to the complexity of the world than only Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine, Business, and Government Policy...

...and by that time, there was no one left who understood what speaking up really meant.

[Technorati tags: university of toronto | centre for comparative literature | school of languages and literature]