Free Speech Divide

When was the last time you've seen or heard a progressive or leftist YouTuber complain about "cancel culture"? Now ask the same question about conservative and right wing YouTubers. See the difference there?

Now the (far) right wing will say: "Duh, leftists aren't cancelled! They are the ones doing the canceling!" And then they go on about neo-Marxists and the "woke mob" on Twitter. Really, they act like precious snowflakes being kicked out of the candy store. Victim-mentality, anyone? The mental gymnastics needed to then turn around and accuse leftists of having a victim mentality is astonishing. But that's what they do; they accuse their ideological opponents of the crimes they themselves commit. We call that "projection". They'll claim that the political left has started and is still waging the "culture" war, while it's them whining about Dr. Suess books being taken off the shelves, when in fact it was the publishers themselves who decided to go for an assortment that better suits our times and get rid of the obvious racist and misogynist elements, it's them demonizing transgender people and accuse them of threatening the spiritual, mental and physical well being of the children, and I could go on; they're the ones waging that made-up war. Sure, "identity politics" and "political correctness" are mostly leftist "inventions", but these aren't necessarily bad and can be easily explained by the liberal's inability to pursue progressivism in the sphere of economics; they're just as dependent on and ruled by their donors as the right, so social progressivism is the only way left to distinguish themselves from the right. But the war is wholly from the political right.

That last bit strikes at the heart of the political divide when it comes to the free speech debate. We don't hear leftists complain as much about cancel culture for good reasons, prominent among which is the fact that that leftist speech has been suppressed for decades now; we're used to not having our voice heard in mainstream media or mainstream online platforms. What was that saying again? "When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression." White, male, misogynist, racist men cry foul when they're not allowed to say the N-word or degrade women and LGBTQ+ people. That's what their fight for freedom of speech is all about, or at least many of their public spokespersons on right wing media and YouTube. Oh how they long for the days when it was normal to call African American men "boy" (or the N-word), and tell their wives to shut up and make them a sandwich. Things were so much better when their women were "barefoot and pregnant" and homosexuals were safely locked away in their closets.

When leftists do complain about their speech being suppressed, it's generally for good reasons too. The right wing always whines about elaborate Marxist and communist conspiracies, even thinly veiled antisemitic conspiracies when they pull out the standard George Soros card, because there's no rational or material explanation for the exclusive suppression of right wing speech. The left doesn't have to jump through such silly hoops, because there are obvious and systemic reasons why leftist speech is suppressed. No conspiracy, just a system called "capitalism". It's so simple that it's almost embarrassing to have to spell it out; when the media and platforms are privately owned by for profit corporations, no speech hurting those profits or corporations will be allowed. Okay, some will be allowed, just for keeping up the appearance of neutrality, but most speech that threatens the hegemony of the neoliberal status-quo will never see the light of day. Not really. No, they'd rather side with fascism than allow ideas promoting fundamental change to the hegemonic systems and ideologies. They'd rather protect the police, than the protesters who peacefully exercise their right to free expression.

And the representatives of this majority, in ascertaining and executing its will, ascertain and execute the will of the vested interests, which have formed the majority. The ideology of democracy hides its lack of substance.

In the United States, this tendency goes hand in hand with the monopolistic or oligopolistic concentration of capital in the formation of public opinion, i.e., of the majority. The chance of influencing, in any effective way, this majority is at a price, in dollars, totally out of reach of the radical opposition. Here too, free competition and exchange of ideas have become a farce. The Left has no equal voice, no equal access to the mass media and their public facilities - not because a conspiracy excludes it, but because, in good old capitalist fashion, it does not have the required purchasing power.
_{source: Repressive Tolerance - Herbert Marcuse}

I'll remind us once more what the purpose of free speech is; it's to speak truth to power. It's to kick up at the powers that be, not down on the already marginalized. And when I say "the powers that be" I don't mean the made-up shadowy cabal of the George Soros led army of neo-Marxist nihilists who are after your children and have taken over Hollywood, the schools and the universities; that's bull-crap (and their leaders know it). No, I mean the real power of materialist wealth and the state that serves the interests of that wealth. It's to undermine the power of both Elon Musk and George Soros. Anyhow, I'd like you to watch the below linked video; in it, JohntheDuncan gives a far better and more detailed account of the ways in which leftist speech is, and has been suppressed.

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