• propaganja@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Everyone else is wrong. Caution is advised: I’m being serious and it’s a serious problem. He’s talking about government censorship of media, specifically Twitter, but the problem is widespread and getting worse.

    I’m disappointed that liberals who have been smart for so long can so easily become dumb as bricks because they lack the emotional maturity to criticize their own side/admit that the other side is right on this issue, if only incidentally. At the least one should be able to acknowledge that it’s been expedient for the Right to champion free speech because doing so directly protects their interests—and I don’t give them any more credit than that—but at least they’re unintentionally doing the right thing. The Left unfortunately deserves criticism, not credit, because for reasons it’s been expedient for them to censor speech because it directly forwards their interests.

    In the end it’s folly to think that any side is necessarily better or more just than the other, or to think sides have any important meaning at all beyond logistical maneuvering. It baffles me that the vast majority of adults in America can watch their enemy do a thing and vehemently denounce it, then turn around and watch their ally do something perfectly analogous, if not exactly the same, and stubbornly defend it without giving an inch; without a modicum of empathy, remorse, or self-reflection. Worse is that none of it even fucking matters. People are ready to have a political orgasm when the other side gets caught mishandling secret files, but get bored hearing about how the economy is burning to the ground. Neither side gives a fuck about anything that matters because unless it can be used as political ammo, neither side will bring it up unless they have to.

    A little bit of my soul died the day I realized the party I championed wasn’t so much better as it was not currently in power (or in danger of losing power), and was simply temporarily more interested in saying and occasionally even doing the right things—the absolute least amount possible—to return to power (or remain in power). Those that think I’m being the least bit cynical should know that they are not qualified to have any kind of meaningful or productive discussion on these topics—they’re wasting their breath at best, unwitting tools of propaganda at worst—and their partisan bickering collectively is literally the biggest reason we will never get out of this mess. A lot of you are young and I don’t hold it against you, but don’t take too long to get your shit straight. The world really is depending on you to direct your energy at the right causes, and Elon Musk isn’t one of them.

    • hperrin@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Can you give me an example of the government censoring free speech on Twitter?