I’ve always thought of myself as convivial, friendly, reasonably polite towards one and all, etc. As far as politics goes, I’ve never joined a party and prefer to come to my own conclusions on each topic at hand. This attitude worked just fine until a few years ago, when I noticed an alarming shift. It wasn’t just that my perspectives weren’t at times far enough to the left to suit some folks, it was more the venom directed at me for holding a different viewpoint from whatever canon law seemed to be in place at the moment. I can handle people disagreeing with me, but what got to me was the sheer force of what felt like pure hatred. I still feel that I have a kind of PTSD about some of it, like my worries over kids kept out of school for prolonged periods during COVID. As an ex-teacher and guardian ad litem representing the interests of foster kids in court, I felt I had an opinion worthy of at least a hearing. But the odd meanness coming at me, even from some friends and relatives, is what makes this new leftism feel so brittle and hard. To tell you the truth, I’m kind of afraid of these people, as they seem most willing to abuse their power to get others in trouble at work for no good reason. And it’s weird that this is happening in America, of all places. I do think people are getting more and more fed up and hopefully this sad chapter will end and something good will come of it. One thing, I’ve learned that fascism can attract those on both sides of the political spectrum.
There is an alternative to banning which is even worse. Promoting books (ideas, doctors) that have a clear and pervasive bias. Banning something usually brings more attention, like the 'Streisand Effect'. Inconvenient, challenging or contrary ideas are ignored or dismissed as 'conspiracy theories', in the hope that the current 'consensus' will triumph.
I saw this at my son's Public School Summer Reading List. The students had a choice of various books in multiple categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, etc... Every non-fiction book had an extreme leftward outlook. The teachers didn't need to ban anything... they just pretended that contrary ideas did not exist.
I’ve always thought of myself as convivial, friendly, reasonably polite towards one and all, etc. As far as politics goes, I’ve never joined a party and prefer to come to my own conclusions on each topic at hand. This attitude worked just fine until a few years ago, when I noticed an alarming shift. It wasn’t just that my perspectives weren’t at times far enough to the left to suit some folks, it was more the venom directed at me for holding a different viewpoint from whatever canon law seemed to be in place at the moment. I can handle people disagreeing with me, but what got to me was the sheer force of what felt like pure hatred. I still feel that I have a kind of PTSD about some of it, like my worries over kids kept out of school for prolonged periods during COVID. As an ex-teacher and guardian ad litem representing the interests of foster kids in court, I felt I had an opinion worthy of at least a hearing. But the odd meanness coming at me, even from some friends and relatives, is what makes this new leftism feel so brittle and hard. To tell you the truth, I’m kind of afraid of these people, as they seem most willing to abuse their power to get others in trouble at work for no good reason. And it’s weird that this is happening in America, of all places. I do think people are getting more and more fed up and hopefully this sad chapter will end and something good will come of it. One thing, I’ve learned that fascism can attract those on both sides of the political spectrum.
There is an alternative to banning which is even worse. Promoting books (ideas, doctors) that have a clear and pervasive bias. Banning something usually brings more attention, like the 'Streisand Effect'. Inconvenient, challenging or contrary ideas are ignored or dismissed as 'conspiracy theories', in the hope that the current 'consensus' will triumph.
I saw this at my son's Public School Summer Reading List. The students had a choice of various books in multiple categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, etc... Every non-fiction book had an extreme leftward outlook. The teachers didn't need to ban anything... they just pretended that contrary ideas did not exist.