Friday, November 27, 2015
Democrats vs. Liberty
Here's one for you: according to Pew Research, more than one third of Democrats favor censorship. The problem is particularly pronounced among young people (and it is a very serious problem, by the way), where 40% support censorship. It's a reasonable bet t
hat they are overwhelmingly of the left.
It's important to understand the constituency of the leftwing political class. Those answering yes to the survey agreed that if some "minority" deems an idea offensive, the government should be able to block it. Given that anything said by a white person, a conservative, or a libertarian will offend someone of today's left, and given that anyone can claim minority status and get away with it (excepting Rachel Dolezal, of course), this position is simply carte blanche for the left to censor all discussion, theorizing, and inquiry that it finds politically inconvenient.
The First Amendment currently prevents the silencing of the American citizen, just as the Second Amendment currently prevents the disarming of the American citizen. No doubt both free speech and freedom to own the means of self-defense will shortly come under another assault by Barack Obama and members of his party, given today's shootings at Planned Parenthood in Colorado. I expect that establishment Republicans will join in (at least those not running for president). It will not be libertarians or conservatives who will attack liberty. Let this be a lesson to us.
It's important to understand the constituency of the leftwing political class. Those answering yes to the survey agreed that if some "minority" deems an idea offensive, the government should be able to block it. Given that anything said by a white person, a conservative, or a libertarian will offend someone of today's left, and given that anyone can claim minority status and get away with it (excepting Rachel Dolezal, of course), this position is simply carte blanche for the left to censor all discussion, theorizing, and inquiry that it finds politically inconvenient.
The First Amendment currently prevents the silencing of the American citizen, just as the Second Amendment currently prevents the disarming of the American citizen. No doubt both free speech and freedom to own the means of self-defense will shortly come under another assault by Barack Obama and members of his party, given today's shootings at Planned Parenthood in Colorado. I expect that establishment Republicans will join in (at least those not running for president). It will not be libertarians or conservatives who will attack liberty. Let this be a lesson to us.
