I spoke yesterday on the First Amendment and social media at the University of North Carolina; great event, but 80 percent of the people who showed up were over 50.
How do you square your commitment to free speech with your desire to see Alex Jones bankrupted for saying some nonsensical and hurtful things about the Sandy Hook massacre?
He can say whatever he likes, but if he lies about and defames innocent people, and they sue and win, he has to pay the price. They weren’t “nonsensical,” he knew exactly what he was doing. I despise Alex Jones, and the right’s embrace of him is a serious moral and ethical failing and one reason I’ll never go MAGA.
As Vivek said last night on Gutfeld. Its not about MAGA or Red vs Blue. This election is "the people vs the managerial state" Vivek just throws spades, and is dead on what MUST be done. So you don't have to GO MAGA Alex as a reason to vote for Trump. Just sayin...
It's definitely "establishment vs. anti-establishment" this year. I just can't believe who is all in on the establishment these days! Especially while the establishment is weaponizing the justice department, censoring free speech, and flirting with war again. But DT is the "threat that must be eradicated." WTH, people?
Again, look to the educational system. Is Civics being taught in schools? How about history--world history? US history? Attention to developing critical thinking skills? There are likely a number of factors, including the obsession with social media, An ignorant populace is easier to control.
AUTHORITY!” But very few of today’s students questioned the nonsensical Covid edicts. Or any other liberal orthodoxy like Climate Change etc. It’s baffling, though probably explained by 12 years of liberal teachers and 4 more liberal professors who should know better.
I don't follow AJ and am mystified by the Sandy Hook assertions , but given how often the man is proven right, don't you wonder if he had some reason for saying what he did?
I agree with you. I have never listened to Alex Jones either. I know he said horrible things about Sandy Hook and the parents sued and won. His business is now being auctioned off to pay for the judgement as it should be.
Oh please, most ordinary people don’t even know who Alex Jones is. Pathetic argument, Alex! Better finding another reason why NOT to vote for the orange man.
I for one have no idea who Alex Jones is - voting for Trump because the establishment state now is beyond dangerous. How much did Alex Jones's free speech harm you, Alex, compared to the Covid controls and mandates they placed on us? So you're angry at someone on the right for what he said and therefore you won't vote for America's best interest. I think that's called TDS. I live in MN and Waltz is not someone you would want in power.
The alternative is Kamala. The first amendment will be history and “democracy” will be a brainwashed public under censorship voting according to their programing. So call me MAGA. I just don’t want 1984.
The First Amendment restrains the federal government from stopping or punishing speech and, as extended by the Fourteenth Amendment, places the same restrictions on the states. The government did not stop Alex Jones from speaking nor did it punish him for what he said. Both fraud and defamation have long been recognized as limits on speech. (E.g., "I own this bridge in Brooklyn that I can let you have for a song." Or "Professor Jones takes heroin and sleeps with his students.") Private citizens can sue for fraud or defamation. That's not a violation of legitimate free speech. I agree with Alex B. except that MAGA has nothing to do with Alex Jones. I've been a Trump supporter for 8 years and never heard Jones.
I had never heard of Jones until the lawsuit. I haven't heard enough from him to make a judgement call about him. One thing I know is that there is nothing anyone could say about anyone else that should result in the amount of money he must pay for what he said. "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me!" Can we get back to where people can withstand words without whining? It is very disappointing to find out that Alex Berenson is part of the whining class. I would not have guessed that at all.
Alex, I suppose you want to see all the people who have lied about Hunter and his awesome dad and their friends in the media pay the price too right? One thing we can always count on is honest judges, juries, politicians and especially, fact checkers.
But ... $1.5 billion? That's nonsensical. It's obvious political bias. I agree what he said was heinous and deserved punishment. But the awarded amounts are absurd. It makes me think the judgment was more about threatening people who cross the Regime's narratives, which he has done many times - often sounding like a lunatic - and then being proven right. Not the case with Sandy Hook, but you can see how a person who repeatedly uncovers Regime-driven hoaxes might begin to think *everything* they hear from the MSM is invented to advance the Regime's narrative.
So I think the amount of the judgment seriously undermined free speech in that those obnoxious gadflies (I know and subscribe to one - some guy named Alex something), who are (unfortunately) necessary to break our naturally consensus-driven mindsets out of their ruts, are discouraged from throwing their precedent-threatening thoughts out there.
Be careful with labeling, friend....and selection bias.
Sure there's inverse "TDS", but that doesn't mean MAGA is about embracing ignorant people like Alex Jones. I honestly don't know too many people that vote "MAGA" who actually believe the bullshit Jones, et al spew.
Labeling is just a way to brand one persons ideas/speech false by default if another persons idea is not labeled....because the lies/falsehoods of the "labeler" seem true simply by virtue of lacking labeling themselves.
That sorta happened to you, right?
Let's separate the idea of MAGA from the label imo. And let the dumbasses reveal themselves.
You & many of your readers don’t like Alex Jones and that’s fair enough. It looks to me like you & they have all drank the Koolaid about what he was accused and convicted of doing vs. the Truth (sound familiar?).
Just as Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies for a single ledger entry, Jones was found guilty of something he didn’t actually do by the use of “Lawfare” to circumvent SOP in the judicial system. Do your due diligence and quit getting your “facts” through the MSM & anti-Jones sources. The government needed him silenced and it had nothing to do with Sandy Hook.
If it did, then why is the government insisting his platform be dismantled instead of allowing it to remain a viable business that can actually make payments on the fines? They don’t want his money, they want him silenced.
It makes me ill when anyone who claims to be a proponent of free and open speech draws the line when something is said that offends them or their sensibilities. Free speech includes mis, dis & mal-information, hate speech up to and including outright lies to the extent of everything short of calling for violence.
I'm not exactly an AJ fan, but it's hard to get past the fact that he is proven right a whole lot of the time. Can't imagine saying "never" to MAGA (which, c'mon, has many virtues and nothing to do with AJ) for that reason - a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
I truly never knew of Alex Jones, but heard of the issues and didn't really understand why he was bankrupted over his stupid and horrible speech. Now I finally get it - thanks. It's creepy that he is even invited into the tent at all. Luckily, almost all the people in the tent despise him.
It's a symptom of a larger problem afflicting the West. Our lives, and especially the younger generations, are too comfortable. Too safe. Too insulated from physical reality. There are not enough negative experiences that highlight the value of rights and freedoms.
It all ties together. Participation trophies because otherwise their feelings may be hurt. No free speech for you because people who hear you may be offended or have their feelings hurt. Boo Hoo! Get a spine you cowards. Many college students have the backbone of a chocolate eclair, as Teddy Roosevelt would say. Don’t expect any of these loud mouth weaklings ever to charge up San Juan Hill.
There are a ton of whiney little complainers out there, "Boo hoo hoo you hurt my feelings, you didn't validate me, blah blah blah." I say get over it and move on.
Feelings have no intellect, they are just feelings and you can't let feelings rule your life. I'm 75 and I've watched a lot of this fecklessness evolve over the years, especially the last 15 years or so. I saw a lot of it start about 12-15 years ago when I was watching my granddaughter play in a school volleyball match. I was astounded to see that every time one side messed up, they would go high-five each other, as if they had made a great play and were congratulating each other. I found it curious, but it turned out to be about feelings....not admitting failure, and patting themselves on the back for the mere act of trying. Participating was everything. It has been downhill from there. It's all about participation trophies, no one should be recognized as performing better than others. Same same, equity, unearned equality, etc. It's sickening.
Mark, I agree that there’s no free speech because people who hear you make have their feeling hurt or be offended. That’s a part of the reason.
But a bigger reason — the REAL reason, I would assert — is that the left wants to control the narrative and does not want that narrative or their policies questioned. The left can’t debate conservatives on their ideas because their arguments are flimsy and the masses (some portion of them) would have their eyes opened to the illogic of leftist positions.
I’ll bet most of us could name 3 or more examples of this off the top of our heads.
So the left pretends that words are violence, and that society just can’t bear the pain of conservatives’ mean words. So they set up the fallacy that certain views are out of bounds, and they train their progressive followers to shriek and point whenever someone asserts opinions that might reveal the charade.
And so we have the creation of the term “misinformation”, which means facts and arguments that the left can’t allow for fear of their fantasy world collapsing.
Yes, everything you write is true. The real goal is to suppress conservative speech. The Left is not so much Marxist as it is Orwellian. They are the enemies of liberty.
"Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.". The quote is from a post-apocalyptic novel called "Those Who Remain" by the author G. Michael Hopf. I think we are in the weak men phase.
I would also argue that many boomers have raised their kids to not be adventurous. Pursuing a risk free life is idolized these days rather than one where chances are taken, moving is necessary, etc. As a result of this perceived need for "safety" (I hate that word) there are few folks today who are curious - whether young or old. After having retired from a corporate career, I worked in graduate admissions for a major university for awhile and the career advice these kids got from their parents was shockingly bad.
Yes. Truly. The best evocation of this are videos on X about why gen x kids drank water from a garden hose (gasp! Gross!). We were literally required to do so , not allowed to run ransack in the house (but did so widely outside) would be put to work if caught indoors and so tried never to be caught thus. Even for a lousy drink of water. I think we may have also been the last generation (with the exception -if you were smart-of our own children) who were regularly beaten by our parents for bad behavior. The old axiom spare the rod spoil the child can not be summarily dismissed without repercussions. Some kids do not understand a lesson not followed by appropriate punishment. The no consequences society has severe consequences.
The present society restricts parents in different ways. Let your children (of an "appropriate age'--and who gets to decide what that is--go off wandering and exploring. Should some harm come to them, the government entities will be all over those parentsm to say nothing of the guilt they are likely to experience.
When they where out of power the liberal/socialist/communist people in the US demanded their free speech rights. They formed the ACLU, marched on Washington and used the courts to protect those rights. Now those same people have most of the power and the means to speak regardless, so they want to silence all dissent to their positions, no matter how radical or horrible (abortion up to birth, child mutilation in the guise of gender rights, etc.) they are. Even though 80-90% of people disagree with many of these positions, fear has been instilled in the population, and access to the means of delivery is almost completely blocked (media censorship) so they mostly remain silent. I'm not sure what it will take to wake the population up to the dangers we face here. Sadly it might take another world war, and we just might get one the way things are going right now.
My daughter was a teacher for 11 years and loved it, the kids loved her. But 8 years ago she had had it and left because she couldn't stand the B.S. any longer.
It isn't just free speech, it is FREEDOM. The left doesn't want people to be free in any sphere. "We believe that liberty can be measured by how much freedom Americans have to make their own decisions, even their own mistakes." - Reagan.
Free will, free speech and GOD are kryptonite to the Marxist or Communist. They know they need to remove these unalienable rights given to us by God and God only. The absolute genius of the founding Father's!
In his January 20, 1961, inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, declared that “the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” Good luck finding any current-day Democrats who would publicly endorse President Kennedy’s declaration.
My Father was a Kennedy Dem back in that era, and I have ZERO doubt if he were alive today he would have made the change as JFKs nephew RFK has. JFK threatened the establishment too, and why he was so targeted. As Vivek says this Nov election is WE THE PEOPLE vs the managerial class. Its not Red vs Blue
You don’t get into Carolina, generally, unless you’re a pretty top student. You get to be a top student today by being a serious hoop-jumping rule follower. This is not the crowd who bucks the system generally. They ARE the system. Most of them probably heard your Covid vaccine views and wrote you off immediately. I don’t agree with this state of affairs but unfortunately that’s the way it is. These people go on to be doctors, lawyers, judges, accountants, vets, etc., (the professional class) and we’re 2-3 generations deep into this now. It will get way worse before it gets better imho.
I think that is flattering Alex. I don’t think Carolina students know who Alex is (sorry, Alex). But, you are correct in that they are rule following who for into that school by following the rules. Stating what YOU think is against the rules. These students are not on X - they are on apps you’ve never heard of discussing gummies.
I live in Charlotte and wanted to come see him talk, and would love to see him debate a student.
Maybe a student group could market the talk better next time?
As a University Student that was very serious about my studies (the debt!) - I would never have attended this lecture. Anti-Apartheid protests were all the rage - and I avoided them. My political awakening was the Iraq War - where you could see the gov't lying right to your face, sending thousands to their death. At that time, I was a young professional, and was also seeing how large organizations worked. I bonded with my father -as both of us would yell "liar" at the TV - more over the War than anything short of him teaching me how to swim.
I think you need a level of life experience. My wife -very non-political, and younger than me - COVID was her awakening. You need that experience as an adult - get punched in the face - to wake you up.
I agree. Sometimes college students ( I was like this in the 1980’s) are self absorbed in their own world of their major and their friends. Many probably didn’t even know this event was happening, and if they did they may not know about the lawsuit and its importance. Lastly they may not care enough at this point in their lives to attend. Do not let this discourage you. If you can attract more students next time then you may have a chance for a lively debate. How about being a guest at an introduction to poly sci type class when the talk about current events or our Constitution ( do they talk about the Constitution anymore?)?
This was my thought exactly. I was a student in the mid-80's, not tuned into much beyond my campus life and celebrity news; the concept of free speech didn't mean anything to me except as an answer to a test question. Completely agree it's a concept you take for granted until either you "get punched in the face", or you grow up some more and broaden your horizons.
Our young adult children, 5/6 of whom are right of center, are more in tuned to this as both religious and conservative, but the college-age ones aren't concerned enough about it that they would attend a talk on it.
In the cities - it is stiffing. Most shocking - Canada ordered the vax later so we saw the Pfizer data from Israel - 3rd shot needed and heart issues with young men, then we got AstraZeneca , which had to be pulled after a few weeks due to blood clots. The info was right in front of you, but we were told we were too dim to understand the science. Finally - we saw the Ministry of Health data (Alex quoted it). The Vax, at best lasted 3 months, and then it became WORSE proportionately. More vax were getting sick/dying than the unvaxed! Then they pulled the data (I have screen caps)
I am helping my kid with Canadian History - and the Loyalists were played for suckers by the Brits. LOT less land than the Americans, no support, many just froze to death. Then we were used as fodder by the Brits in their wars.
A few years ago, my alma mater banned a conservative speaker from campus. He had been invited by a student group, but other students got wind of it, cried to administration about how this would violate their safe space, and got him canceled. When the school came to me for my annual donation, I declined and told them why. If college students can't learn to listen and respond to opinions they don't like, then there is little purpose in their high priced education.
The answer to the question why they don't care is twofold: (i) because we tolerate extremely biased academic administrations that will expel students who make others 'feel uncomfortable' because they refuse to address a certain person by their 'natural' pronouns 'xey/xelle,' while they take no action whatsoever against those who shout down judges or harass Jewish students and (ii) because of social media nudging by companies like Google who want to transform the West into a despicable 'hive mind' society, e.g. https://www.wildhorsewisdom.xyz/p/i-just-want-to-see-horses?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web.
What to do about it: 1. Publicize, 2. Do not send your children to any of those failed academic institutions and 3. Publicly question those institutions ' academic achievements
Hey Alex, I completely resonate with what you observed. As a millennial who graduated college within the past decade, I've noticed the same trend in my generation. There's been a real shift, and unfortunately, many young people today don't seem to care about free speech or other important values like they used to.
Students today are more distracted and disconnected, often engaging in performative actions—what you referred to as "cosplaying"—instead of standing up for real values like courage and freedom. These virtues seem to be fading, and I believe that only by refocusing on the deeper, spiritual aspects of life, like personal freedom, can we begin to bring them back.
Just my thoughts, but I hope this adds to the conversation!
These students and this generation don't want to think for themselves. It's too much like work. They just want to be housed, fed, nurtured, and told what to do (and consequently what to think). They are perpetually locked into infantilism. The only thing missing is the adult diapers.
the problem is that student and young people completely believe the expert class. A cause may be the "Google effect" where all questions are immediately answered in the palm of your hand backed by authority of the "experts." When I was 20 (1983) I did not trust or listen uncritically to anyone in authority. Not that i was right but I was well aware they had their agendas. That skepticism is gone as the Marxists have declared a monopoly on truth and have thoroughly smeared anyone who stood in their way,.
Digital rules. The college students don't have any productive wealth and they can't imagine ever even caring about their poverty. They consume digital fare, not material things. They can't imagine how hard scrabble it was to 'make' a living even 100 years ago.
They can't imagine self-government at a personal level and therefore can't extend its virtues to the commonwealth. It's why people take drugs. They don't care, they consume, they don't produce.
There are many factors to consider. Growing up on social media. Growing up getting participation trophies. Identity politics. Extreme leftist ideology in schools. I'd say the biggest factor though is soft parenting. These kids were raised by the first generation in America that never had to experience a real war. No one in their generation was drafted and forced to fight. Desert Storm and every war since have only been experienced through television. Easy times lead to weakness and complacency.
How do you square your commitment to free speech with your desire to see Alex Jones bankrupted for saying some nonsensical and hurtful things about the Sandy Hook massacre?
He can say whatever he likes, but if he lies about and defames innocent people, and they sue and win, he has to pay the price. They weren’t “nonsensical,” he knew exactly what he was doing. I despise Alex Jones, and the right’s embrace of him is a serious moral and ethical failing and one reason I’ll never go MAGA.
As Vivek said last night on Gutfeld. Its not about MAGA or Red vs Blue. This election is "the people vs the managerial state" Vivek just throws spades, and is dead on what MUST be done. So you don't have to GO MAGA Alex as a reason to vote for Trump. Just sayin...
It's definitely "establishment vs. anti-establishment" this year. I just can't believe who is all in on the establishment these days! Especially while the establishment is weaponizing the justice department, censoring free speech, and flirting with war again. But DT is the "threat that must be eradicated." WTH, people?
And the young folks aren’t in the anti-establishment group as always in the past. They aren’t “sticking it to the man’!
Where are all the rebels?.
None of them are concerned about the insidious actions of the government.
Again, look to the educational system. Is Civics being taught in schools? How about history--world history? US history? Attention to developing critical thinking skills? There are likely a number of factors, including the obsession with social media, An ignorant populace is easier to control.
I think they still see themselves as such though. They just have a skewed vision of who “the Man” is these days.
Exactly! In the 60s and 70s it was all “QUESTION
AUTHORITY!” But very few of today’s students questioned the nonsensical Covid edicts. Or any other liberal orthodoxy like Climate Change etc. It’s baffling, though probably explained by 12 years of liberal teachers and 4 more liberal professors who should know better.
I'm MAGA and have never listened to Alex Jones's show. I don't know anyone in my orbit of conservatives who is a fan of him.
I don't follow AJ and am mystified by the Sandy Hook assertions , but given how often the man is proven right, don't you wonder if he had some reason for saying what he did?
I’m not familiar enough with Alex Jones to know what he’s been right about. I don’t pay attention to him at all.
I agree with you. I have never listened to Alex Jones either. I know he said horrible things about Sandy Hook and the parents sued and won. His business is now being auctioned off to pay for the judgement as it should be.
Same.
Oh please, most ordinary people don’t even know who Alex Jones is. Pathetic argument, Alex! Better finding another reason why NOT to vote for the orange man.
I for one have no idea who Alex Jones is - voting for Trump because the establishment state now is beyond dangerous. How much did Alex Jones's free speech harm you, Alex, compared to the Covid controls and mandates they placed on us? So you're angry at someone on the right for what he said and therefore you won't vote for America's best interest. I think that's called TDS. I live in MN and Waltz is not someone you would want in power.
The alternative is Kamala. The first amendment will be history and “democracy” will be a brainwashed public under censorship voting according to their programing. So call me MAGA. I just don’t want 1984.
To state the obvious, speech is far from free if you get fined $1 billion for it.
Same thing could have happened to any of the Covid heretics.
The First Amendment restrains the federal government from stopping or punishing speech and, as extended by the Fourteenth Amendment, places the same restrictions on the states. The government did not stop Alex Jones from speaking nor did it punish him for what he said. Both fraud and defamation have long been recognized as limits on speech. (E.g., "I own this bridge in Brooklyn that I can let you have for a song." Or "Professor Jones takes heroin and sleeps with his students.") Private citizens can sue for fraud or defamation. That's not a violation of legitimate free speech. I agree with Alex B. except that MAGA has nothing to do with Alex Jones. I've been a Trump supporter for 8 years and never heard Jones.
I had never heard of Jones until the lawsuit. I haven't heard enough from him to make a judgement call about him. One thing I know is that there is nothing anyone could say about anyone else that should result in the amount of money he must pay for what he said. "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me!" Can we get back to where people can withstand words without whining? It is very disappointing to find out that Alex Berenson is part of the whining class. I would not have guessed that at all.
Sham “trial” for Alex in liberal Austin, Texas. It was disgraceful.
Alex, I suppose you want to see all the people who have lied about Hunter and his awesome dad and their friends in the media pay the price too right? One thing we can always count on is honest judges, juries, politicians and especially, fact checkers.
But ... $1.5 billion? That's nonsensical. It's obvious political bias. I agree what he said was heinous and deserved punishment. But the awarded amounts are absurd. It makes me think the judgment was more about threatening people who cross the Regime's narratives, which he has done many times - often sounding like a lunatic - and then being proven right. Not the case with Sandy Hook, but you can see how a person who repeatedly uncovers Regime-driven hoaxes might begin to think *everything* they hear from the MSM is invented to advance the Regime's narrative.
So I think the amount of the judgment seriously undermined free speech in that those obnoxious gadflies (I know and subscribe to one - some guy named Alex something), who are (unfortunately) necessary to break our naturally consensus-driven mindsets out of their ruts, are discouraged from throwing their precedent-threatening thoughts out there.
Be careful with labeling, friend....and selection bias.
Sure there's inverse "TDS", but that doesn't mean MAGA is about embracing ignorant people like Alex Jones. I honestly don't know too many people that vote "MAGA" who actually believe the bullshit Jones, et al spew.
Labeling is just a way to brand one persons ideas/speech false by default if another persons idea is not labeled....because the lies/falsehoods of the "labeler" seem true simply by virtue of lacking labeling themselves.
That sorta happened to you, right?
Let's separate the idea of MAGA from the label imo. And let the dumbasses reveal themselves.
You & many of your readers don’t like Alex Jones and that’s fair enough. It looks to me like you & they have all drank the Koolaid about what he was accused and convicted of doing vs. the Truth (sound familiar?).
Just as Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies for a single ledger entry, Jones was found guilty of something he didn’t actually do by the use of “Lawfare” to circumvent SOP in the judicial system. Do your due diligence and quit getting your “facts” through the MSM & anti-Jones sources. The government needed him silenced and it had nothing to do with Sandy Hook.
If it did, then why is the government insisting his platform be dismantled instead of allowing it to remain a viable business that can actually make payments on the fines? They don’t want his money, they want him silenced.
It makes me ill when anyone who claims to be a proponent of free and open speech draws the line when something is said that offends them or their sensibilities. Free speech includes mis, dis & mal-information, hate speech up to and including outright lies to the extent of everything short of calling for violence.
I'm not exactly an AJ fan, but it's hard to get past the fact that he is proven right a whole lot of the time. Can't imagine saying "never" to MAGA (which, c'mon, has many virtues and nothing to do with AJ) for that reason - a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
I truly never knew of Alex Jones, but heard of the issues and didn't really understand why he was bankrupted over his stupid and horrible speech. Now I finally get it - thanks. It's creepy that he is even invited into the tent at all. Luckily, almost all the people in the tent despise him.
It's a symptom of a larger problem afflicting the West. Our lives, and especially the younger generations, are too comfortable. Too safe. Too insulated from physical reality. There are not enough negative experiences that highlight the value of rights and freedoms.
Thank goodness for you guys. It all started with participation trophies. That's when the pussification of America began.
Smack-dab middle of genX here. Trust me it's not a coincidence in the timing.
The day before the day someone dreamed up participation trophies was the zenith of America.
And here we are at the nadir...merely two generations after that fateful day.
It all ties together. Participation trophies because otherwise their feelings may be hurt. No free speech for you because people who hear you may be offended or have their feelings hurt. Boo Hoo! Get a spine you cowards. Many college students have the backbone of a chocolate eclair, as Teddy Roosevelt would say. Don’t expect any of these loud mouth weaklings ever to charge up San Juan Hill.
There are a ton of whiney little complainers out there, "Boo hoo hoo you hurt my feelings, you didn't validate me, blah blah blah." I say get over it and move on.
Feelings have no intellect, they are just feelings and you can't let feelings rule your life. I'm 75 and I've watched a lot of this fecklessness evolve over the years, especially the last 15 years or so. I saw a lot of it start about 12-15 years ago when I was watching my granddaughter play in a school volleyball match. I was astounded to see that every time one side messed up, they would go high-five each other, as if they had made a great play and were congratulating each other. I found it curious, but it turned out to be about feelings....not admitting failure, and patting themselves on the back for the mere act of trying. Participating was everything. It has been downhill from there. It's all about participation trophies, no one should be recognized as performing better than others. Same same, equity, unearned equality, etc. It's sickening.
Exactly. Well met, Mark
Mark, I agree that there’s no free speech because people who hear you make have their feeling hurt or be offended. That’s a part of the reason.
But a bigger reason — the REAL reason, I would assert — is that the left wants to control the narrative and does not want that narrative or their policies questioned. The left can’t debate conservatives on their ideas because their arguments are flimsy and the masses (some portion of them) would have their eyes opened to the illogic of leftist positions.
I’ll bet most of us could name 3 or more examples of this off the top of our heads.
So the left pretends that words are violence, and that society just can’t bear the pain of conservatives’ mean words. So they set up the fallacy that certain views are out of bounds, and they train their progressive followers to shriek and point whenever someone asserts opinions that might reveal the charade.
And so we have the creation of the term “misinformation”, which means facts and arguments that the left can’t allow for fear of their fantasy world collapsing.
Yes, everything you write is true. The real goal is to suppress conservative speech. The Left is not so much Marxist as it is Orwellian. They are the enemies of liberty.
"Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.". The quote is from a post-apocalyptic novel called "Those Who Remain" by the author G. Michael Hopf. I think we are in the weak men phase.
What year was it where they pushed for kids being able to sue their parents...the early 90s?
Mid 90’s. Tony Soprano mentioned it to Carmela in S1
Yeah. Right around then
100% agree. I literally said the same thing just now — and I'm a millennial!
So am I, millennial yet deplorable. A rare beast ;)
Bob! My man! So you’d like my article then on how ‘we’ve been set up to fail’: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/how-millennials-were-setup-to-fail
Paywalled article.
Bahahahaha
So true! Be uncomfortable...the lessons you learn about yourself and how you deal with adversity will build so much strength and courage.
I would also argue that many boomers have raised their kids to not be adventurous. Pursuing a risk free life is idolized these days rather than one where chances are taken, moving is necessary, etc. As a result of this perceived need for "safety" (I hate that word) there are few folks today who are curious - whether young or old. After having retired from a corporate career, I worked in graduate admissions for a major university for awhile and the career advice these kids got from their parents was shockingly bad.
The young boomers I agree with. But the ones who had children before let's say 79' are not risk adverse in the least.
We are the free-range generation. The first and probably last. That was inherently risky...but also grand.
Yes. Truly. The best evocation of this are videos on X about why gen x kids drank water from a garden hose (gasp! Gross!). We were literally required to do so , not allowed to run ransack in the house (but did so widely outside) would be put to work if caught indoors and so tried never to be caught thus. Even for a lousy drink of water. I think we may have also been the last generation (with the exception -if you were smart-of our own children) who were regularly beaten by our parents for bad behavior. The old axiom spare the rod spoil the child can not be summarily dismissed without repercussions. Some kids do not understand a lesson not followed by appropriate punishment. The no consequences society has severe consequences.
The present society restricts parents in different ways. Let your children (of an "appropriate age'--and who gets to decide what that is--go off wandering and exploring. Should some harm come to them, the government entities will be all over those parentsm to say nothing of the guilt they are likely to experience.
The Left has been in charge of public education for the last 50 years. There, I answered the question.
When they where out of power the liberal/socialist/communist people in the US demanded their free speech rights. They formed the ACLU, marched on Washington and used the courts to protect those rights. Now those same people have most of the power and the means to speak regardless, so they want to silence all dissent to their positions, no matter how radical or horrible (abortion up to birth, child mutilation in the guise of gender rights, etc.) they are. Even though 80-90% of people disagree with many of these positions, fear has been instilled in the population, and access to the means of delivery is almost completely blocked (media censorship) so they mostly remain silent. I'm not sure what it will take to wake the population up to the dangers we face here. Sadly it might take another world war, and we just might get one the way things are going right now.
My daughter was a teacher for 11 years and loved it, the kids loved her. But 8 years ago she had had it and left because she couldn't stand the B.S. any longer.
It isn't just free speech, it is FREEDOM. The left doesn't want people to be free in any sphere. "We believe that liberty can be measured by how much freedom Americans have to make their own decisions, even their own mistakes." - Reagan.
Free will, free speech and GOD are kryptonite to the Marxist or Communist. They know they need to remove these unalienable rights given to us by God and God only. The absolute genius of the founding Father's!
In his January 20, 1961, inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, declared that “the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” Good luck finding any current-day Democrats who would publicly endorse President Kennedy’s declaration.
My Father was a Kennedy Dem back in that era, and I have ZERO doubt if he were alive today he would have made the change as JFKs nephew RFK has. JFK threatened the establishment too, and why he was so targeted. As Vivek says this Nov election is WE THE PEOPLE vs the managerial class. Its not Red vs Blue
Throw in our 2nd amendment rights as well
Some say without the 1st NONE of it matters
Join the resistance https://jointheresistance.org/
But until these crybabies experience the reality of the loss of those freedoms. it will just get worse.
You don’t get into Carolina, generally, unless you’re a pretty top student. You get to be a top student today by being a serious hoop-jumping rule follower. This is not the crowd who bucks the system generally. They ARE the system. Most of them probably heard your Covid vaccine views and wrote you off immediately. I don’t agree with this state of affairs but unfortunately that’s the way it is. These people go on to be doctors, lawyers, judges, accountants, vets, etc., (the professional class) and we’re 2-3 generations deep into this now. It will get way worse before it gets better imho.
I think that is flattering Alex. I don’t think Carolina students know who Alex is (sorry, Alex). But, you are correct in that they are rule following who for into that school by following the rules. Stating what YOU think is against the rules. These students are not on X - they are on apps you’ve never heard of discussing gummies.
I live in Charlotte and wanted to come see him talk, and would love to see him debate a student.
Maybe a student group could market the talk better next time?
As a University Student that was very serious about my studies (the debt!) - I would never have attended this lecture. Anti-Apartheid protests were all the rage - and I avoided them. My political awakening was the Iraq War - where you could see the gov't lying right to your face, sending thousands to their death. At that time, I was a young professional, and was also seeing how large organizations worked. I bonded with my father -as both of us would yell "liar" at the TV - more over the War than anything short of him teaching me how to swim.
I think you need a level of life experience. My wife -very non-political, and younger than me - COVID was her awakening. You need that experience as an adult - get punched in the face - to wake you up.
I agree. Sometimes college students ( I was like this in the 1980’s) are self absorbed in their own world of their major and their friends. Many probably didn’t even know this event was happening, and if they did they may not know about the lawsuit and its importance. Lastly they may not care enough at this point in their lives to attend. Do not let this discourage you. If you can attract more students next time then you may have a chance for a lively debate. How about being a guest at an introduction to poly sci type class when the talk about current events or our Constitution ( do they talk about the Constitution anymore?)?
This was my thought exactly. I was a student in the mid-80's, not tuned into much beyond my campus life and celebrity news; the concept of free speech didn't mean anything to me except as an answer to a test question. Completely agree it's a concept you take for granted until either you "get punched in the face", or you grow up some more and broaden your horizons.
Our young adult children, 5/6 of whom are right of center, are more in tuned to this as both religious and conservative, but the college-age ones aren't concerned enough about it that they would attend a talk on it.
And your from Canada ...gotta be way worse up top aye?
In the cities - it is stiffing. Most shocking - Canada ordered the vax later so we saw the Pfizer data from Israel - 3rd shot needed and heart issues with young men, then we got AstraZeneca , which had to be pulled after a few weeks due to blood clots. The info was right in front of you, but we were told we were too dim to understand the science. Finally - we saw the Ministry of Health data (Alex quoted it). The Vax, at best lasted 3 months, and then it became WORSE proportionately. More vax were getting sick/dying than the unvaxed! Then they pulled the data (I have screen caps)
I am helping my kid with Canadian History - and the Loyalists were played for suckers by the Brits. LOT less land than the Americans, no support, many just froze to death. Then we were used as fodder by the Brits in their wars.
A few years ago, my alma mater banned a conservative speaker from campus. He had been invited by a student group, but other students got wind of it, cried to administration about how this would violate their safe space, and got him canceled. When the school came to me for my annual donation, I declined and told them why. If college students can't learn to listen and respond to opinions they don't like, then there is little purpose in their high priced education.
Alex,
I keep telling my kids, if things don’t change soon in this country, I feel sorry for what they are going to have to live thru after I’m gone.
The answer to the question why they don't care is twofold: (i) because we tolerate extremely biased academic administrations that will expel students who make others 'feel uncomfortable' because they refuse to address a certain person by their 'natural' pronouns 'xey/xelle,' while they take no action whatsoever against those who shout down judges or harass Jewish students and (ii) because of social media nudging by companies like Google who want to transform the West into a despicable 'hive mind' society, e.g. https://www.wildhorsewisdom.xyz/p/i-just-want-to-see-horses?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web.
What to do about it: 1. Publicize, 2. Do not send your children to any of those failed academic institutions and 3. Publicly question those institutions ' academic achievements
Next time take Javier Milei who lambasted the UN and their "Pact for the Future" as twisted. He closed by saying, "Long live freedom, damn it!"
Dude has wheelbarrow balls
Hey Alex, I completely resonate with what you observed. As a millennial who graduated college within the past decade, I've noticed the same trend in my generation. There's been a real shift, and unfortunately, many young people today don't seem to care about free speech or other important values like they used to.
In fact, I wrote a book that dives into this exact issue, arguing that society has changed dramatically with the rise of technology: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-history-of-you-a-book-that-connects
Students today are more distracted and disconnected, often engaging in performative actions—what you referred to as "cosplaying"—instead of standing up for real values like courage and freedom. These virtues seem to be fading, and I believe that only by refocusing on the deeper, spiritual aspects of life, like personal freedom, can we begin to bring them back.
Just my thoughts, but I hope this adds to the conversation!
Free speech presupposes freedom of thought.
These students and this generation don't want to think for themselves. It's too much like work. They just want to be housed, fed, nurtured, and told what to do (and consequently what to think). They are perpetually locked into infantilism. The only thing missing is the adult diapers.
the problem is that student and young people completely believe the expert class. A cause may be the "Google effect" where all questions are immediately answered in the palm of your hand backed by authority of the "experts." When I was 20 (1983) I did not trust or listen uncritically to anyone in authority. Not that i was right but I was well aware they had their agendas. That skepticism is gone as the Marxists have declared a monopoly on truth and have thoroughly smeared anyone who stood in their way,.
There is no freedom without the 1st Amendment.
Digital rules. The college students don't have any productive wealth and they can't imagine ever even caring about their poverty. They consume digital fare, not material things. They can't imagine how hard scrabble it was to 'make' a living even 100 years ago.
They can't imagine self-government at a personal level and therefore can't extend its virtues to the commonwealth. It's why people take drugs. They don't care, they consume, they don't produce.
There are many factors to consider. Growing up on social media. Growing up getting participation trophies. Identity politics. Extreme leftist ideology in schools. I'd say the biggest factor though is soft parenting. These kids were raised by the first generation in America that never had to experience a real war. No one in their generation was drafted and forced to fight. Desert Storm and every war since have only been experienced through television. Easy times lead to weakness and complacency.