“Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech.” ― Noam Chomsky.
In the last couple of years, we have witnessed a tremendous flow of information, and the leading means are social media platforms, with the elites being Facebook and Twitter. We aren’t faced with a lack of information, on the contrary, we are bombarded with so much information that we have failed to stop and think critically about what is presented to us daily. We are overwhelmed by so many points of view, and the problem with this “privilege” is that we aren’t self-disciplined anymore; we can’t tell the difference between lies and facts. We are completely disoriented and, at the same time, overly connected.
It was 1644 when John Milton, one of the greatest poets in the history of English literature, wrote his rebuttal against the British parliament’s licensing order placed on all pieces of writing, particularly on books. Milton’s Areopagitica has been coined by many as an “impassioned plea for free speech.” Milton argued against the censorship of books before their publication. His primary goal was to solidify the fact that every idea, wrong or right, shouldn't be censored and that truth had the right to confront itself with error. Milton was one of so many others who understood what it meant to have the right to free speech because when that is taken away, freedom, in the truest sense of the word, will gradually become a faded memory.
The former occupant of arguably the most important office in the world was permanently banned from Twitter and Facebook. The owners of these platforms justified their reason for banning the president of the United States of America, saying: “he incited violence.”
January 6, 2021, the protest at Capitol Hill became violent and unfortunately led to the death of 4 Americans. President Trump was widely accused of instigating this violence through his message released hours before the protest. "He incited violence and put the nation at risk” is one of the claims we heard on the news. This was the tweet that was supposedly “incited violence”:
Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there; it will be wild!
It was the summer of 2020, amid a global pandemic, when cities were placed on severe lockdowns, and small businesses asked to stay closed; the media somehow managed to excuse the BLM protests, which led to the death of over 15 Americans, businesses, mainly black-owned businesses were vandalized and goods were stolen. David Dorn, a 77-year-old retired police officer, was shot after interrupting the burglary at a pawn shop on the same day of the George Floyd protest. Other respected black men were killed during these supposedly "peaceful" protests. These tragedies didn’t make waves on the news, the same way black-on-black crimes don’t make waves on the news. This was a protest against police brutality, and it was warranted, says CNN news anchor Chris Cuomo:
“Not too many people see this protest as a problem. No, the problem is what forced your fellow citizens to take the streets: persistent, poisonous inequalities and injustice. Show me where it says protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful. Because I can show you that outraged citizens are what made the country what it is and led to any major milestone. To be honest, this is not a tranquil time”
The world saw what happened during those protests, the chants about defunding the police. However, the BLM Twitter account is still active. Those protests were anything but peaceful; their actions led to rioting and looting that brought about violence and deaths, with the media fully in support of these “protests.”
We continue to point to the race, instigating violence and supporting divisive acts that keep pushing people away from each other. We refuse to admit the truth and progress made so far on the race front because it doesn’t fit our narratives. The MSM is ok with the violence as long as it pushes forward hate in disguise of “fighting the inequality.”
J.K Rowling, the formidable author of Harry Potter, became a victim of the cancel culture. One of the most successful writers of our times was ridiculed online for sharing her views in solidarity with Maya Forstater, who was fired following her tweets proposing changes be made to the UK's Gender Recognition Act.
This tweet was one of many others that landed Rowling in the black book of the "woke":
Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?
Sia, the Aussie singer-songwriter, is another celebrity who had to apologize for who she chose to hire for her music video. She was heavily criticized for starring Maddie Ziegler to play an autistic teenager. Some Twitter users had a field day with their comments, pointing out the offensiveness and inaccuracy of the music video because it didn't feature an actual autistic teen.
We can pick and choose all we want, but we can’t choose our facts, nor are we entitled to them. In the words of Thomas Sowell: “Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true, but many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly.
Ours isn’t just a war against ideas; it is a war against common sense and logic. Two things without which a society will crumble. It’s like Noam Chomsky said, “If you want to start a revolution, you have to pick a title no one can object to.” this is what black lives matter shades itself under. The falsehood of fighting for black lives while destroying the lives of others, both black and white.
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