Free Speech, Contempt, and Political Disintegration

 Given the long shadow of human extinction hanging over humanity,  attempts at political humor are increasingly strained, and confined to sarcasm, the low end of the humor spectrum. The populist political message - "fight back" - is too vague to be of much use. Against what? Much of what passes for political resistance is quite convinced that it's righteous to shut down speech it considers offensive, and that attitude long pre-dates Trump,  Russia-gate, and Covid, which are often cited as causes. This only encourages our mind managers to more aggressively censor our thought. Why shouldn't the deep state censor us when we so readily censor each other? When respect for the rights of others actually prevails in popular culture, then we might have a chance at solving our massive political problems. But not before. 

While racism is certainly noxious, condemning it and excluding it from public discourse only helps it grow stronger. 

Finding racists in the U.S. is like finding sand at the beach. So if we want to exclude all racist speech at universities or anywhere else, we will end up with a small sect of pious and powerless "anti-racists" talking to themselves. This is obviously not a path to social liberation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The attempts at humor are strained, and confined to sarcasm, the low end of the humor spectrum. The political message - "fight back" - is too vague to be of much use. Against what? Much of what passes for a left is quite convinced that it's righteous to shut down speech it considers offensive, and that attitude long pre-dates Trump, Russia-gate, and Covid, which are often cited as causes. Why shouldn't the "deep state" censor us when we so readily censor each other? Actually, if elites were BETTER at their job, they'd realize that letting us express ourselves freely would help them more than suppressing "misinformation," as smug predictions of doom and self-righteous denunciations of ideological heretics are increasingly all we have to offer as speech. When respect for the rights of people we despise actually prevails in popular culture, then we might have a chance at solving our massive political problems. But not before.