What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies

by Tim Urban

No matter how many written rules there are, it is the citizens’ ability to uphold liberal norms that determines the fate of the country.

When concept creep turns dissent itself into an act of unacceptable harm—an act of racism, of transphobia, of violence—punishing those who dissent becomes not only justified but imperative in order to protect people’s safety.

A vocal conservative minority could provide a vital dissenting perspective to progressive theories. When that dissent filter vanishes, the campus becomes, ideologically, more like a church group than a science lab.

The student newspaper at Williams felt differently, explaining that the disinvitation was necessary, because of “the potential damage of introducing harmful thoughts into the safe space that is so vital to the College’s ability to nurture and educate.”

there’s never been a worse time for us to be spiraling down a vortex of confusion and fear. Exponential technology has given us countless gifts. But in the frenzy, we’re forgetting the most important lesson of all: the worst of our nature never lies far beneath the surface.