August 2023

Free speech

I used to be a contributor to and occasional editor on Wikipedia. But wokeism sickened the service early on, making it no longer reliable or valuable from my perspective.

I have had a love-hate relationship with Gab from its beginning. I admire Andrew Torba’s commitment to maintaining an open forum (as long as laws are not broken), regardless of how odious some topics may be to others.

On the positive side, to my knowledge, Gab is the only social media platform that has never self-censored nor succumbed to pressure and threats from any entity seeking to impose censorship for any reason.

On the negative side, because of its integrity, it allows a lot of content that is — again in my opinion only — neither credible nor valuable. This is content that I have to wade through despite being very careful about whom I follow.

All in all, Gab is one of only two social media that I still use. (I must confess that I still use Facebook because there are people with whom I want to keep in touch who reside there. I’m working on a strategy to rid myself of the hideous Zuck monster, but it’s proving hard for me to do.)

I was alerted to Wikipedia’s “description” of Gab and found it a remarkable example of pretzel logic. It manages in one paragraph to dismiss Gab’s assertion of free speech by listing examples of what is clearly as positive an attitude toward free speech as you can expect. Wikipedia leads off its attack as follows:

Gab is an American alt-tech microblogging and social networking service known for its far-right userbase.[2][3][4][5] Widely described as a haven for neo-Nazis, racists, white supremacists, white nationalists, antisemites, the alt-right, supporters of Donald Trump, conservatives, right-libertarians, and believers in conspiracy theories such as QAnon,[6][7] Gab has attracted users and groups who have been banned from other social media platforms and users seeking alternatives to mainstream social media platforms.[8][9][10] Founded in 2016 and launched publicly in May 2017,[3][11] Gab claims to promote free speech, individual liberty, the “free flow of information online”, and Christian values.[12][13][14][15] Researchers and journalists have characterized these assertions as an obfuscation of its extremist ecosystem.[13][16] Antisemitism is prominent in the site’s content and the company itself has engaged in antisemitic commentary. Gab CEO Andrew Torba has promoted the white genocide conspiracy theory.[13][14][15][17] Gab is based in Pennsylvania.[18]

Researchers note that Gab has been “repeatedly linked to radicalization leading to real-world violent events”.
Wikipedia

As for the notion that “researchers” have allegedly noted, I’d have to see proof before condemning it. Gab has been involved in several cases where entities have attempted to throttle Gab by requesting that they remove controversial positions. Gab has repeatedly refused, stating that as long as it does not stray into criminal intent, it remains in the domain of free speech.

I continue to support Gab, even though I find little value to me in its content. I continue to support it because I think that their commitment to free speech deserves support, over and above its utilitarian value.

Prove me wrong.

It’s not the government’s fault

As we learn more each day about the Maui conflagration, for example, we almost can’t help experiencing an uneasy feeling. Things just don’t seem quite right. The more we find out, the more things just don’t seem to make sense.

At the same time, we know that disasters often reveal that in real life we are not as secure as we tend to think we are in our minds. Unsinkable ships sink. Elections don’t turn out the way we thought they would. Wars are fought for causes we may not discover until many years later, and then only if history reveals them inadvertently, or sometimes despite all efforts to couch them in an official narrative.

In these times, we find ourselves blaming the government in one way or another for a whole variety of things that just don’t add up. Usually, one side blames the other in loud voices that drown out the whisper that there aren’t any differences between the two. Individuals get blamed, as if they were operating in a vacuum, despite the sheer overwhelming mass of individuals who are actively involved in operating a national government.

I retitled this blog recently because I think it important to point out at the very top that what I say herein is not fact, nor should it be taken as such. It is, at best, an attempt to encourage whoever may read my words to stop and think — if only for a minute — about the subject at hand. I do not desire to tell you what or how to think; I pray that you will think critically.

Today, these words ring truer than ever:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats

Innocence is drowned. We no longer believe in the institutions of our heritage. There is no more free press, no constitutional republic, no nation under God. And so, unable to point to an individual among us who is to blame (no, the only conviction that you can assign to Donald of Orange is that his “bull in the china shop” approach to governing revealed that the empire has no clothes), we blame “government”.

But folks, we are the government. No, we don’t actually get to choose it anymore, but we submit to its yoke, to its excesses, and thus we are complicit by neglect, if not by action. If you don’t agree with what the government does, what can you do? We have it in our power to hobble government — granted not alone, but if enough individuals agree to pay the price, we can halt any abuse the faceless entity can throw at us.

But the price! Oh, it is very very high. (For verification, just ask Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.)

It all begins with each of us alone. We may organize into groups, we may rally, and we may act in small cells or large congregations. But it all comes down to the individual.

The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.
Robert A. Heinlein

It’s down to me. And it’s down to you. I am ready to start. To paraphrase a couple of folk heroes: I am a reasonable man, but I am intending to do some perhaps unreasonable things. I aim to misbehave.

What about you? Feel free to join in.

Random Samples

When you rely on untrustworthy people to do your evil bidding, sooner or later you discover that those same untrustworthy people will reveal your evil secrets.

Geez! I never until now understood that the “fourth turning” referred to our stomachs!

300,000+ invaders a month across our southern border! The revelation of where these people are and what they’re doing will be bigger than that of the Biden corruption, the Pentagon papers, the Kennedy assassination, 9/11, and the anti-Trump defamation conspiracies … combined!

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was no 2024 election and we finally find out all of a sudden where all those mostly peaceful military-age male invaders are.

Ag is generally more fungible than Au … but Pb is far more so than either of them.

I tell anyone who will listen that you don’t have to be a warrior (though be one if you can), but you DO have to practice Situational Awareness at all times. SA will save you by steering you clear of conflict that you may not be able to handle.

Dear America: it is not “bravery” to cringe before tyranny. It is not “bravery” to succumb to the wailings of ignorance. It is not “bravery” to kneel before the political cudgel or the bureaucratic jackboot. You should take little comfort in knowing that when the rough beast comes slouching toward you, as it certainly will, men who just want to be left alone will nonetheless be there to defend you — not because of your “bravery”, but because it is right to do so.