Do we still have 'Free' Speech?

There have been a number of developments recently which I feel are quite worrying in relation to what we once knew as a right to free speech.

The age of political correctness has hopefully come to an end following the demise of 13 years of socialist (nanny-state) government in the UK. I say this with a degree of hope that we are now living in a free society where it is acceptable to express one's opinions, beliefs and views knowing that they may be agreed with by some, assented to by others and denigrated or counteracted and argued against by another group of people.

Within this framework we know there must still be boundaries, as J.S. Mills argued, total freedom would lead to anarchy and one person's total freedom leads to the enslavement or imprisonment of other people.

We now live in a strange world where a large swathe of people have freedom to express themselves via the internet, press, radio and TV, but there are parts of the world where people are denied such freedom, for example, Cuba, North Korea, Iran and China. In North Korea only Government officials (very few) and Higher Education professionals are granted free access to the internet and it only gives them access to approved sources, probably little or nothing outside N. Korea. In China there is a firewall which we all know about, and within the last day or so their equivalent of Twitter is supposedly down for maintenance. I wonder how long that maintenance will last? I am unaware of the current situation in Iran, but I guess Twitter, Facebook and other Social media are scrutinised by the authorities and their 'misuse' can lead to political imprisonment if the regime is painted in a bad light by 'dissident' voices.

I believe we are truly privileged to be able to 'freely' express our thoughts and views in the ways we do, but I wonder sometimes how much longer we will have the opportunity to do so. I think we need to make the most of the freedom we have while it lasts and hope and pray that those parts of the world where they don't possess such a privilege will one day become free and able to stand up for their views and beliefs in the same way.

Erik's Musings

Music is such a vast subject that I hardly know where to start. I have written blogs on all sorts of subjects and topics but have hesitated to start writing about what is supposed to be my specialist subject.

I am fascinated by the websites and questionnaires where they ask you to specify or tick your favourite kinds of music. I always end up ticking a whole load of boxes and adding a few extra categories wherever space is left to do so. With the possibilities which have opened up to me of listening to an almost endless number of internet radio stations, I have begun to explore various genres and music from farflung regions of the earth (world music) which at one time I would never have contemplated listening to. I intend to explore the subject of internet radio in a later posting, my concern here is with listening to music in general.

As a performing artist and a teacher I have mainly been associated with Classical music throughout my career, but I occasionally dip my toes into jazz, middle of the road and even pop and classic rock music. However, when it comes to my listening habits, these are much more diverse. I have always enjoyed listening to classic rock music, specifically Genesis, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and Bob Dylan, but more recently I have taken to listening to Folk, Persian, Indian, Klezmer and Latin music which at one time I would hardly have known existed! This has been most enriching and I believe it has opened my mind to looking at news ideas in the philosophical, religious and political aspects of my life as well as to absorb news concepts in scientific and technological development. Having said this, I do not profess to know much about the kinds of music I listen to, particularly Persian, klezmer and Indian music. However this lack of understanding doesn't seem to impair my appreciation of these types of music.

I have read some recent papers where they claim that music is most effective when it coincides with the brain and body functioning processes such as breathing, alpha rhythms and the rate it takes us to process our thoughts. Another article I have seen claims that it is possible through MRI scanning to actually listen to the 'music' of the brain. They hope that by listening to 'brain music' in different people they will, for example, be able to understand the variation in brain patterns between schizophrenic and other people. Whilst these kinds of investigations are in the early stages, there is no doubt that listening to music can have a profound influence on our behaviour and mood patterns and is undoubtedly of high therapeutic value.

I recently undertook a questionnaire which addressed the question of which metal group I represented. I know these kinds of surveys are often rather whimsical, but imagine my complete surprise when the answer given at the end of the questions asked was Limp Biskit. The instructions given were for me to never darken the doors of the world of metal music ever again and to go back to listenening to my rap music. I happen to like listening to quite a number of metal bands, some heavier than others, but if there is one band I feel least inclined to listen to I would say it is Limp Biskit, and the genre I find the least appealing of any I have ever heard is rap music!

I wish you all great joy and happiness in your music listening, playing and exploration of the vast world of music.