As a new year takes the stage, I’m hoping that people will be a little more willing to listen and less willing to shout; that they take the time to enjoy each moment and see what it brings; and that they experience more of the natural environment, where by closing one’s eyes, one can hear and feel and smell the world that surrounds us.
Listening is the most important part, and that means allowing others to speak. I lost track of who said it, but I agree completely: “I have always believed that putting ideas, including potentially dangerous one[s], out in the public is vital to ensuring they are debated and, if dangerous, discarded.”
As we start a new year with liberals increasingly calling for the suppression of “misinformation” — defined as “false information that is not intended to cause harm” —, “disinformation” — “false information that is intended to manipulate, cause damage, or guide people, organizations, and countries in a particular direction” —, and “malinformation” — “information based on the truth but which is exaggerated in a way that misleads and causes potential harm”. Rather than censoring that information, which leaves people feeling that no one is listening to them, it is better to openly confront the ideas and show them to be false. Blocking those thoughts is intended to prevent the spreading of lies, but disenfranchising the “other side” is equally dangerous, because they then have grounds to doubt what “our side” is saying. Indeed, neither side is immune to spreading false or exaggerated information; anyone who simply repeats what they are told without checking on its accuracy may be spreading misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation.
Likewise, conservatives are calling for the banning of books they find objectionable — often without reading them or understanding the context —; seeking to withhold rights and services from people whose life choices do not match their own; and, in the worst cases, relegating certain ethnic, racial, or religious people to less-than-human status. Just as in the case of information, it is not just one side that is guilty of this. Consider the reactions of people to the Israel-Palestinian conflict: Rather than acknowledging the wrongs committed by both sides, many are choosing one side over the other without regard to the brutality exhibited.
So it is in politics as we head into presidential primary season. There should be no doubt that this contest is a choice between democracy and fascism — Donald Trump has made that very clear as he sows distrust of the government, its agencies, and the courts in order to escape accountability for his actions, and promising to fill government positions with those who are loyal to him while punishing anyone who disagrees. Yet choosing an alternative to Trump does not mean forgoing the vetting of the other candidates and making it an either-or choice between Trump and Joe Biden Jr.
I have made it clear that I cannot vote for a candidate who has chosen to not appear on the New Hampshire primary ballot. I will not write in Biden, even though he has done a superb job as president. The US economy is in the best shape since the 1960s, thanks to Biden’s guidance in moving away from the failed trickle-down economics promoted by Ronald Reagan and returning the focus to workers and small businesses. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan helped to rebuild the economy after the pandemic; the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act targeted money to repair roads, bridges, and waterlines, extend broadband, and build infrastructure for electric vehicles; the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act has promoted scientific research and the manufacturing of semiconductors; and the Inflation Reduction Act promotes domestic renewable energy production and measures to combat climate change. The inflation that that followed was due as much to supply chains and other pandemic-related disruptions as to government spending, and it has fallen to acceptable levels, while wages for lower-income people has risen in relation to inflation.
Biden has restored US credibility around the world by bringing nations together in the face of regional wars that could turn global, as well as providing financial assistance to countries that otherwise would consider turning to authoritarian regimes. We cannot say the world is safe today, but it is safer than it could have been without Biden’s steady hand.
With that said, Biden has made some serious mistakes, including censoring thought. His ill-conceived “Ministry of Truth” — fortunately — was short-lived, but the government’s implied threats to social media companies in order to get them to take down inconvenient information — not just lies— continues to be a real threat to free thought. Biden’s decision to ask the Democratic National Committee to make South Carolina the first primary state was an assault on New Hampshire and its law that promotes person-to-person contact with the candidates. Disregarding that law is unconscionable for a man who purportedly holds the law in esteem.
Biden is not the only candidate in the primary race. It is important to weigh each candidacy and decide for ourselves who is best-qualified to be president. That cannot be accomplished by allowing the DNC to tell us who to choose, or by listening to sound bites on electronic media or in the press. No one is perfect, and there are nuances to every position, and we need to listen and decide for ourselves. New Hampshire’s primary is the best opportunity for ferreting out the nuances of political positions.
Which brings me to Nikki Haley. She has been rightly criticized for her answer when asked to identify the cause of the Civil War. Of course, as she later admitted, slavery was the cause of the war. Her impromptu answer at the time, however, was to say it “was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms, and what people could and couldn’t do…. I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are…. And I will always stand by the fact that, I think, government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people.”
That was the wrong answer to give, and may be disqualifying, but it also held some truth. The Civil War was more complicated than the simple white-supremacist vision articulated by Alexander Stephens of Georgia, the vice-president of the Confederacy, who said, “Our new government is founded upon … the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition.” Not all rebels fought because they believed that; some who joined the cause were not slave-owners, but they objected to the federal government dictating how the states operated. They recalled that many states joining the union — New Hampshire included — had reserved the right articulated in the Declaration of Independence to revolt against a repressive government. The Civil War was mainly about slavery, but it also was about the rights and freedom of the voting citizenry.
That complexity is true of every political question, and it is why polls are so frequently wrong. A pollster’s question on abortion, for instance, may give the impression that the voter will cast a ballot a certain way based on that answer. The voter, however, weighs a number of factors, and strong feelings about one issue may be outweighed by a number of other concerns. Voting choices are not black or white.
Which brings us back to free speech and censorship. Allowing the airing of all thoughts — “however dangerous” — reveals the complicated nature of thought. Beyond the surface emotions and the racism, xenophobia, or other prejudices of the writer, it can reveal other elements so we can address any real problems that may exist — and which, if suppressed, will only fester.
That debate is taking place on this platform, Substack. Some users have called out Substack for its free speech policy that shuns algorithmic moderation, and has allowed white supremacists to spread their message (and, more importantly, to make a profit on it). Those are valid concerns, but, remember: Those who censor now may be the ones censored later.
Elle Griffin wrote a defense of the platform, saying, “Substack emerged as a beacon of writing and discourse…. A network of all of the best parks and libraries, where all of us are safe to flourish. If someone says something in a park you’re not part of … not much happens. It doesn’t get surfaced to the masses. Unless you actively try to find it, you won’t. You are no longer exposed [as with most social media] to the niche worldview of whoever says the most outrageous thing or influenced by media outlets profiting from your attention — you are only exposed to the voices you follow and trust online. The result is that we are uniting ourselves into communities, not dividing ourselves into factions.”
I want to express my views and sometimes act as devil’s advocate to pose difficult questions, and I want to hear the views of others, whether or not they agree. There is nothing to force those who don’t want to listen to take part, but there is the opportunity for those who do want to hear the other side to do that, too — and to debate those views.
When we moved to Florida, at the time, it was a true purple state. I am not going to go through how and why DeSantis had a significant win in his second bid for the Governorship. I can guarantee it was not based on the draconian laws that now plague my new state now.
The legislature bows down to any and all outrageous culture war laws proposed by him.
The so called Don’t Say Gay bill has forced removal of books in even our more progressive counties. We are bleeding quality teachers who are under possible felony charges from the thought police. They are being replaced with “teachers” with no teaching degree, even allowing people who have no degree at all “if” they promise to get one. 🙄 The 6 week abortion law is very unpopular. He knew this when he signed it into law in a closed ceremony after 11 pm. No press allowed. Then decimating the one truly liberal state college and has turned into a school where freedom of expression is limited to what he says it is. Some state colleges stepped up and offered to accept students from the college with no loss of credits, and same tuition, even if the colleges have a higher tuition cost. NH and MA are two such states.
Boy, I could go on. Just let me vent about a few more things. The price of home owners insurance costs have increased in some counties over 400%. Some home owners are receiving bills of over $10,00. Insurance companies are leaving. DeSantis has finally approved a small budget item to assist “some” homeowners. Florida already have home insurance costs that is well above the US costs. Same with auto insurance. Many home owners, even if they could afford the price increase have been dropped by the insurance companies. Big companies like State Farm for example.
My point. Straight out lies have been used to scare citizens to into passing these bills. There is no debate. He only allows journalists that support him to press conferences and any signing of controversial bills. He basically started running for President immediately after his second win.
Citizens now are not happy with him. Including many who voted for him. Many who voted for him expected him to continue to be a business focused Gov. Not culture wars.
Anyway. I agree with a majority of what you say. Hard to have any kind of discussion when you are blocked from a discussion.
By the way, some of those books have been, The Diary of Anne Frank, Beloved, some Shakespeare. Obviously Catch 22, Animal Farm, etc. The thought police is alive and well. I understand the concern about the book, Gender Queer, only in high school libraries though. If parents don’t want their child to read a certain book, pay attention and stop taking away these books from others. By the way the Mom’s for Liberty started in Florida. Bridget Ziegler has been asked to resign due to a sex scandal in a three way relationship. ( I frankly don’t care as long as it was consensual. But, that’s not the point.). And, her husband has been accused of sexual assault.
However , the Moms for Liberty have no concerns that the Bible is still on the shelf. Multiple wives, slavery, stoning, nudity, well, you all know a bunch of what is in there that has other books been banned. Hypocrisy.
Ok, really done. Thanks Tom for your thoughts.
Though I fully agree that censorship is very dangerous as it can be manipulated in ways that hurt the citizens and agree that healthy debate of good and bad ideas is important for a democracy, I do not agree that censoring material that may not be age appropriate is wrong. Even through the debate on what is appropriate for children, many of the most liberal thinkers have been shocked at what some well meaning people have been exposing their children to through books and videos in schools and other venues.