Post by acptulsa on Dec 20, 2017 11:54:55 GMT -8
No republic can function properly if rational discussion of important issues is not possible. This nation has reached that point. People have been stirred and prodded and divided along partisan lines to the point where any discussion involving the federal government evoked fear and dread of the brainless, knee-jerk partisan shouting match which is bound to pop up. Worse, the resulting voluntary censorship which results all goes one way. Somehow, no one dares suggest that The Official Story could possibly be offensive. So, if anyone parrots it, it is always allowed to stand, and anyone who speaks against it is the one who gets shouted down.
We have free speech. But discussion forums are privately owned, and those owners properly and rightly have the right to moderate their own property. And when government trolls pop up and agitate about Unapproved Speech, it forces the hands of forum owners. It's all voluntary, and nothing is done by force, but their hands are forced by careful manipulation. And where's our free speech then?
Without free speech, how can a republic function? Thomas Jefferson certainly didn't see how one could. And with the federal government poking its sticky fingers into every aspect of American life, what discussion is there which is not a political discussion?
I am old enough to remember a time when rational discussions were possible, even between people of different parties. We all saw the steps that were taken to divide the populace and set us at each others' throats. But how could it possibly have been this effective? How could American civilization have devolved so completely in four short decades? Or am I looking at the past through rose colored glasses? Was the 'generation gap' strategy which divided us during the Vietnam War just as effective as this?
One thing is certain. If we can't learn how to have rational discussions about what kills and maims us, and has direct effects on our lives, the republic is dead and we are doomed.
We have free speech. But discussion forums are privately owned, and those owners properly and rightly have the right to moderate their own property. And when government trolls pop up and agitate about Unapproved Speech, it forces the hands of forum owners. It's all voluntary, and nothing is done by force, but their hands are forced by careful manipulation. And where's our free speech then?
Without free speech, how can a republic function? Thomas Jefferson certainly didn't see how one could. And with the federal government poking its sticky fingers into every aspect of American life, what discussion is there which is not a political discussion?
I am old enough to remember a time when rational discussions were possible, even between people of different parties. We all saw the steps that were taken to divide the populace and set us at each others' throats. But how could it possibly have been this effective? How could American civilization have devolved so completely in four short decades? Or am I looking at the past through rose colored glasses? Was the 'generation gap' strategy which divided us during the Vietnam War just as effective as this?
One thing is certain. If we can't learn how to have rational discussions about what kills and maims us, and has direct effects on our lives, the republic is dead and we are doomed.