The Free Speech Muzzlement

Once upon a time, 50 years ago, in a land called America, there was a place called UC Berkeley that became synonymous with the free speech movement (FSM).

Back then, demonstrators more or less peacefully demanded that the university administration remove its ban on political activities, particularly anti-war rallies - and publicly recognize the right of students to open inquiry and free expression of ideas.

In 2017, what appears to be students destroyed private property, caused personal injury and hid their faces like terrorists while demanding that the university shut down free speech, ban political activities and prevent a gay man from presenting his reasoned arguments.

It is rather sad and quite disturbing that the American youth have become so spoiled and inarticulate that they must resort to forcefully silencing those with whom they disagree, and well as lashing out in violent fits, much like a brat falls on the floor and screams at the supermarket when mom won't buy his choice of breakfast poison.

The liberal/progressive/SJW groups are so profoundly incapable of holding open debate that they are committing hate crimes against "protected" individuals (homosexuals being singled out for special treatment by the left) and defying every point that once defined the left.

And apparently they don't see their own internal contradictions.

The liberals are openly calling for assassination of the US president, which is primarily founded on the fact that the president is a white male.  This, folks, is called racism.

The liberals are calling for the curtailment of certain speech because they might be offended.  This, folks, is called censorship.

The liberals are calling for open immigration in violation of dozens of laws that have been on the books, in some cases, since the founding of the country.  This, folks, is called sedition.

The Democratic Party, once the party of the working classes, is seriously considering a leader who is ashamed of her genetics, but which, of course, doesn't stop her from wanting to lead the party.

The idiocy, self-hatred, lack of common sense, and profound inability to reason shows the depravity of the American educational system.  An entire generation has been created who think that "self-esteem" without achievement is the pinnacle of existence.  They fervently believe that everyone should look alike, think alike and act alike, so that the world can be "diverse".  They are so incapable of eloquence and articulation that burning cars and hurting people is the only way to express themselves.

In other words, the War on Terror has produced terrorists.

Like Mao's Lost Generation in China, they were taught that they deserve everything while doing nothing.  The world owes them whatever they want, and they will not kicking, screaming and throwing tantrums until they get it.

The vivid demonstrations of Orwellian Double Think is chilling: War is Peace, Diversity is Sameness, Freedom is Conformity.  Even Darwin would shudder, since he believed Intelligence and Reason were products of Natural Selection, not generational layers of education.

The most worrisome part of what the world is witnessing in the US is not current events, but the fact that this new Lost Generation still has about 50 or 60 more years of damage ahead of them.  Given that most of these kids are just reaching their 20s, imagine what the country will be like in 20 more years, when they reach their prime earning years and start to take the reins of power.  Incapable of higher reasoning and discernment, one trembles at the thought of what destruction they will unleash.

Ironically, this generation is the ultimate responsibility of the same generation that launched the Berkeley FSM.  In their efforts to create a liberal paradise, where everyone lives together in peace and harmony, they forgot about human nature and the need for real education in order to protect and defend oneself.  Being able to support one's self and one's family requires creativity and hard work - both anathema to the liberal paradise.  Life also requires the ability to think clearly and quickly to adapt to changing situations - an ability only received through logic, rhetoric and grammar studies...also denied in the liberal paradise.

Banning guns does not get rid of them, it only makes them illegal.  Banning kinds of speech does not stop the thoughts, it only drives it underground.  Banning racism does not get rid of it, it only forces it to express in more subtle ways.

Once upon a time, a liberal was someone who believed in more - not less - freedom, both for the individual and society.  Now, we are forced to use that word to describe those who would forcefully and painfully destroy liberty and freedom.

In fact, the US has become so factionalized and fragmented that one cannot even define certain groups without using a half-dozen hyphens and slashes.  There are no clearly defined boundaries because the language has been so tortured and twisted that classical roots and definitions no longer apply.

The societal damage on display in the media coming out of the US may be irreparable at this point.  An entire generation has been lost, and unless something drastic happens, the cultural chain may be permanently broken.

That damage is likely by design, but everyone is at fault for standing by and allowing it to happen.  We all bought into the psycho-babble and feel-good snake oil salesmen.  We all were duped into thinking ignorance was bliss.  We have all failed an entire generation out of political expediency.

The most vital question at hand now is not jobs or immigration, it is what can be done to remedy the damage done and limit its effect on future generations.

Whatever the final answer will be, it will start with real education, real freedom and real liberty.  That much begins with the right of the people to peaceably assemble and present their ideas in a calm, rational manner and allow the Marketplace of Ideas to do its job.