It's perhaps uniquely South African that Neo-liberalism is seen as an ideology of The Left (and thus, "progressive") while Liberalism is cast as Right Wing and reactionary. Of course, if the cynical choose to unpack whose interests are best served by presenting it thus, very little would be found to surprise anyone.
But there we had the makings of a great debate. On an issue that few would argue was not of great relevance and significance currently.
Sad then that it degenerated so quickly into point scoring and playing to the (packed) audience - I'd not seen the Beattie Theatre so full since we were told to be grateful we had offices on the mountain.
I left feeling bitterly disappointed. At the level and tone of much of the debate, certainly - but more disturbingly, at the huge divisions that the debate revealed about the audience. While diversity of views as well as anything else is certainly to be welcomed, the extent of polarisation, and the all-too-familiar faultlines along which it manifested, left me wondering about the blytheness with which we mouth terms such as "UCT community".
We need to open up these issues and talk about them. But we need to do so in an atmosphere free from accusations and ad hominem attacks. Where we find such a space on Campus I've yet to discover.