(The following is a Facebook post I recently put up. I decided to add to this venue so that I can link more detailed articles for the reader’s benefit, and also, many of my DTN subscribers do not follow my FB page.)
“Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” -John Milton
The fulfillment of this quote is, and has always been, at the center of the American values system and experience. Recent developments in Washington, DC has led to a great discussion now on the rights speech, and the rights of private companies.
First of all, let me be clear. I do not condone the violent breach of the Capital Building on Wednesday. I was out of touch for a few hours that day, and a friend called to inform me of what was going on. I could not believe it. There are many things that make me skeptical that these breachers/rioters were Conservative Republicans. (You may think that’s crazy, but this is my post, so shut up and finish reading.) But I will leave that point for later discussion, and it appears that the culprits are being rounded up and dealt with by law enforcement, and I am sure these individuals will feel the full force of the justice system, unlike those who we’ve watched burn, beat, destroy and pillage for the last 7-8 years.
Secondly, I will concede the rights of private companies not to participate in, or be forced by government to participate in activities which are against their own standards or deeply held beliefs. I cannot say, and do not believe that my Left leaning friends who believe that a baker or florist do not have the same right of refusal as another privately owned yet publicly traded company, would concede that point.
If Twitter and Zuckerberg want to edit or control speech, that’s fine; I signed the contract that pretty much gave everything I post over to them. However, as a publicly traded, and publicly used utility, they need to be held to the same standard of “non-discriminatory” usage as every other utility, which cannot deny service based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or political affiliation.
Thirdly, if you don’t see the Double Standard here, that has been developing for years, not months or even since this last Presidential administration, you have your head in the sand. This process has been well under way under the radar, and came to the surface during the Obama Administration when #BLM swept across University campi across the nation, following the Ferguson riots.
Just a few miles down the road at Kansas University, BLM operatives invaded the Student Senate making demands of the Senate members and furthermore, of the attendees. Among those demands, any white person, even an “ally”, who wanted to speak had to be given permission by a person of color before they were allowed to speak and be heard in the public discussion. Now, not many of you probably know that. But I have a highly educated professional friend in Lawrence who attended that meeting and took copious notes, and relayed it to me immediately.
I do not share that anecdote to cast racial aspersions at all. In fact, its not even about race. It is about one group of people being, not only willing, but allowed to silence another group, in an institution bought and paid for by public funds, for the purpose of public education. That very institution in historical fact, was at the cutting edge of the abolition movement which freed an entire group of people from bonds of oppression, slavery, disenfranchisement, and censorship.
Teachers and professors have been fired or ridiculed into resignation across the nation by these radical Leftist groups for daring to offer any semblance of alternative viewpoints, or in some cases just saying a simple historic word, in context of historic discussion. “University” used to be the most Liberal place in the country. And by “Liberal” I mean in the classical sense; liberal thought used to mean “open minded”, per se, and open to different ideas. (I do not refer to these Leftists as “Liberal”. Our Founders were very Liberal in that Constitutional government by the People had never been tried before.)
University was where students were exposed to ideas and thoughts that perhaps they had never encountered before, in their corner of the country. The University was truly where these ideologies and philosophies all came together and in true “Diversity” brought everyone involved into a single “Universe”-ity. But today, diversity of thought is NOT permitted on campus, and speakers who might bring an alternative idea are not given a platform, denying the student body of a true diverse discussion and ideological exchange. Universities today serve to codify, propagate and ingrain the philosophies of godless individuals like Karl Marx, who denied his own family of a decent home (and most of his children died before he did), while he spent his Engels provided stipend on clothes, cigars and travel.
Finally, this fundamental transformation did not happen under the “devil” Donald Trump. It was deeply embedded in the bureaucracy years before. This is much bigger than Donald Trump, and if you think it’s about him, or in reaction to him, you have drunk the koolaid. It’s not even about Twitter suspending his account, or Facebook filtering anything I posted about the election by “warning” that “there is no evidence of widespread election fraud”. (Hell, Zuckerberg is probably going to shadow ban this post.)
This is about a full segment of society believing it is entirely “OK” for opposing points of view to be shut down. Maybe you weren’t aware of the things that I have shared here. Why would you suppose that is? Perhaps a willing participation of “omission” by news media? Censorship is not just about not allowing some points of view to be published; it’s also about the refusal to cover events, or report on things that the public should know.
Censorship also comes in the form of ridicule, and this point is one that Saul Alinsky made well, because it works, and it works because public ridicule is one thing that most, almost all people, want to avoid, even if they are right. It is also the easiest form of censorship for the mob to exercise. I do not mind if you disagree with me and we can have a civil discussion; if you have followed me long enough you know that. But if you think it’s ok to shut down an opinion, or an ideological point of view, you may be excused from my page. [I have always championed free exchange of ideas on this page, and have only ever blocked 2 people; one for obscenities and one for just being an ass.]
I find it incredibly ironic that people, especially Leftists, or those who fancy themselves as “Independents” or “moderates”, who have decried “Corporate America” for decades, have now, not only conceded, but sold their sovereign souls to support giant corporations who hold and exercise the power of not just censorship, but work with government entities to shape and form public opinion by controlling information, shaping policy, and influencing or even corrupting elections.
It’s all good.
Until it’s your information, opinion and ideology that is scrutinized.
Double Standards. Stuff ’em.