Yesterday's post generated a LOT of emails and comments - the apparent lack of support for a fundamental American right obviously disturbs many of you too.
Another factor may be the way many kids are being raised. Their parents do everything they can to shelter them from "harm." As a result, the kids become very risk-averse. Freedom inherently brings risk with it, so they shy away from it.
This is a major factor in acceptance of censorship. Somehow, many people have been convinced that information can equal violence. If someone, somewhere, is "harmed" (aka their feelings were hurt) then that's enough to block the information from existing. A very dangerous concept based on an untruth: that words can equal violence.
In our pushback against censorship, we need to focus on blowing up the myth of words=violence. The justification for the Censorship Industrial Complex relies on this concept and thus would lose its reason for being if we can knock that idea down.
My kids aren't risk-averse -- but I posted above that, because of my own career and watching other writers be "cancelled" or ostracized I've taught all my kids to think twice about what they post on social media. In private they'll debate anything, but publicly they have very small digital footprints. My young son (20) doesn't even have social media.
Wow. Your young son is such a outlier. How does he navigate socializing with his peers without social media? They just text him when they need to reach him?
I also think it's a bit easier for boys than girls to maintain a friends circle without social media.
This x1000. Parents used to understand their job was to raise adults. To push their children to be not only self-responsible but have developed the skills and wearwithall to care for others as well.
Today, most parents view their job as "protecting" their children (nothing could be more antithetical to the development of a productive adult). When a child, then young adult, then adult, can't care for themselves, how could they possibly care for others? You can walk that algorithm to almost all of societals ills - birth-rate decline, lack of service-focused religious participation, our debt crisis (everything is about me), etc...
We let fear take over society because the entire boomer generation doesn't understand statistics and outliers (the entire world is safer than it has ever been but is treated as more dangerous by nearly everyone), coddled our children because of it, and created weak men who are literally ruining the world...
YES! Our job is to raise kids to be adults that contribute, adults that can be self-sufficient, adults that we actually like! Gotta say, as a parent of kids 4 and 7, it's terrifying to be a witness to my generation coddle their kids. It's not everyone, but it seems to be the majority. By their standards, holding my kids accountable for their actions is seen as child abuse. While their standard, of never saying no, is the way...? That, to me, is child abuse. You're forever crippling them. Since when do children know what's best for themselves?! THAT'S OUR JOB! The result is exactly this - kids who can't analyze squat, who don't understand fundamental truths...about anything. Yeah, maybe my 4 year old is just parroting what I say when I'm upset about whatever nonsense Kamala just spewed on TV and doesn't totally understand, but college-aged kids? They also seem to be regurgitating what they've been told without an iota of self-reflection and regulation.
A time of no war? Seriously? My youngest, not long out of college himself, saw his father deployed to Iraq while he was a fourth grader. Of course, my son is rather conservative, and is now himself in the Navy. The development of a military caste in this country is extremely concerning. Those outside of it are unaware of some key truths, and do not understand the experiences of many of their fellow Americans.
Yes, we've been at war one way or another since Vietnam. We have not been in a war where the US mainland has been threatened [i]domestically[i/] (yet).
Exactly!! If not before, looking at II & SK & the plethora of worldwide involvement since. Just tracking all the US machinations prior to Ukraine outburst & current on the ground ops is reminiscent of VN buildup -- and deployments now to ME ... imagine it looks pretty kinetic for our troops on foreign land & sea. 750 bases in 80 countries aren't there for the Starbucks!
I find it ironic that you’re involved in a lawsuit for free speech but rant against Alex Jones and fail to see how unjust what has been done to him is. Even if he lied intentionally, which I don’t believe, then some people’s feelings were hurt, but how would that entitle those people to receive so much, if any at all?
Your failure to understand that it’s the same machine going after both of you to control the narrative is very myopic.
"The State" hates Jones and took him down. They hate DJT and have engaged in lawfare to bankrupt him, put him in prison for life, and keep him from holding office (no matter what it takes). Assassination attempts, lying, cheating?
It's quite simple. The left hijacked the education system for the last 20 years, turning our youth into non thinking, communist loving robots. The funny part, and this is sweet, is that it happened right under the noses of the parents. They turned their kids over the education system to raise. They were too busy working a million hours so they could afford that next BMW 7 series, ya know, to look socially acceptable. People, as you know, are obsessed with what others think of them. Nothing better than vanity, the best all natural opiet.
Why are you surprised? This is learned behavior. Look at the curriculum taught public schools (the ones that receive the most money per student in the world and whose rankings continue to fall), what is being advocated by the media (and what is being ignored), and the lies our government officials feed us every day - for their benefit. And we scratch our heads at the results? We are at the tipping point. Fact.
I started school in January 1944 and while only five I/we knew our freedom was under attack. Later Civics and history were taught in school. In the early years I would listen to radio news with my parents and in the early years of TV we would all watch the evening news with Cronkite or Huntly, Brinkley. At 12 I got a paper route in DC, serving 175 weekday and 225 Sunday papers and you could not avoid what was going on.
The value of freedom of speech is no longer taught or appreciated. And I truly believe that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the 1st. Both are under serious and dedicated attack now.
Hey Alex, I'm a little late to the party because 1) I wasn't surprised; 2) I've been a victim of speech suppression; 3) I'm actually working in one of our supposedly "higher ed" environment and didn't have time to comment yesterday. Our current students have the attention spans of fleas. Covid lock downs made it so much worse. Everyone wants to do everything via video or recordings. When you can't/don't look someone in the eye as they explain their position, you can just shut them out. They are not human any more and don't deserve respect. I, a professional (non-faculty), for more years than I'd like to admit to, was chastised in the past 6 months for defending the term "white paper". Yes, a common type of report, because some bone head somewhere didn't like the word white. I was told that I made our international graduate students "uncomfortable". Let me say here, there was no evidence of that. At another time, the same language watchdog objected to another staff member saying a study was a "blind" study. Now, you and I both know, that a double-blind study is the gold standard for research. Please do go back-these people, not just students, are not being challenged enough. They are worse than snowflakes, they are puddles.
As the parent of a college senior at a southern state school, I think you are reading too much into the scenario. My son and his friends are conservative. They even vote for conservative candidates. They are tired of all the rhetoric. They don't want to hear it any more. They have learned how to play the game to appease their liberal professors, but they don't want to spend their free time talking or hearing about "that crap" (his words, not mine). They think we live in the best country in the world, but they think the government is a waste of time, resources, and money. They don't want or expect government hand outs. They don't expect to get social security or medicare, and they are planning accordingly. They think the kids who protest are joyless, virtue-signaling losers who don't know how to have fun. They are more concerned about getting a job, buying a house, and paying bills. I get it. I was the same way in the 80s when I graduated from college. I voted for Reagan, but I did not pay attention to the news or what was going on in the world. It never occurred to me that I could not do or say what I wanted. It never occurred to me that my own freedom could be at risk.
All that to say, I don't think that the students don't support fundamental rights; I think they don't appreciate the threats. Also, my son is not going to listen to his mom (whom he loves and pays his tuition) for more than 10 minutes without rolling his eyes. He is certainly not going to go listen to a stranger lecture for an hour, even if you have beer and pizza.
As long as Tic Toc, Instagram and Snapchat are available, they don't care about anything. They are easily brainwashed (as seen by the fake pandemic), etc. In the meantime they are being told they are victims and have no chance in life, they will never be able to afford a house, never be able to have a family. Religion is dead to them, because Jesus does not have X account. I am not talking about 14 year olds, these are college students and beyond.
Kamala Harris has expressed concern that social media can operate without supervision or regulation. Tim Walz falsely says hate speech and misinformatio are not protected. Why should we expect college students to be concerned with free speech when some of America's leaders have no appreciation of it?
My father owned a business that repaired, sold and maintained certain types of fire equipment for government and refineries. He tried to put together an apprenticeship program that would get these guys certified. The biggest problem was although they were high school graduates they could barely read and write. We had to let several good employees go because they simply could not read manuals. This was 25 years ago. This is what the fine school systems are turning out. A high school diploma is nothing but a participation trophy.. I’m sure most of these kids have no idea what you’re talking about when you mention free speech. (I never had to buy no speech, what’s he talking about?)
I think it's part of a larger cultural shift that places conflict avoidance and considering the feelings of others much higher than they used to be. I notice it even with younger people's hesitance to drop by their friends or even families houses unannounced, for fear that they might somehow be imposing on them. And the switch from talking to texting as a more passive, non-confrontational form of communication. Also, I think growing up in a time of abundant material wealth has left students unable to really conceive of govt as a potential threat, or something that would ever need to be seriously challenged.
As noted in the previous thread (posted too late to make this edition) the root of the problem lies in the State sponsored control operation carried out by psychologists and psychiatrists overseeing our teacher training colleges and our schools. We have allowed an Orwellian MKULTRA Psyops task force to assume total control over future generations. It will take a HUGE deprogramming effort to undo the damage.
Another factor may be the way many kids are being raised. Their parents do everything they can to shelter them from "harm." As a result, the kids become very risk-averse. Freedom inherently brings risk with it, so they shy away from it.
This is a major factor in acceptance of censorship. Somehow, many people have been convinced that information can equal violence. If someone, somewhere, is "harmed" (aka their feelings were hurt) then that's enough to block the information from existing. A very dangerous concept based on an untruth: that words can equal violence.
In our pushback against censorship, we need to focus on blowing up the myth of words=violence. The justification for the Censorship Industrial Complex relies on this concept and thus would lose its reason for being if we can knock that idea down.
So many people these days use, "stay safe!" as a closing remark. Every time I hear it I want to run with scissors.
Yeah. That is lame. Reply back to that closing remark with, “Live long and prosper.” May blow some minds with that.
Or maybe Carpe Diem.
Yeah, my thoughts exactly… quite annoying.
My kids aren't risk-averse -- but I posted above that, because of my own career and watching other writers be "cancelled" or ostracized I've taught all my kids to think twice about what they post on social media. In private they'll debate anything, but publicly they have very small digital footprints. My young son (20) doesn't even have social media.
Wow. Your young son is such a outlier. How does he navigate socializing with his peers without social media? They just text him when they need to reach him?
I also think it's a bit easier for boys than girls to maintain a friends circle without social media.
This x1000. Parents used to understand their job was to raise adults. To push their children to be not only self-responsible but have developed the skills and wearwithall to care for others as well.
Today, most parents view their job as "protecting" their children (nothing could be more antithetical to the development of a productive adult). When a child, then young adult, then adult, can't care for themselves, how could they possibly care for others? You can walk that algorithm to almost all of societals ills - birth-rate decline, lack of service-focused religious participation, our debt crisis (everything is about me), etc...
We let fear take over society because the entire boomer generation doesn't understand statistics and outliers (the entire world is safer than it has ever been but is treated as more dangerous by nearly everyone), coddled our children because of it, and created weak men who are literally ruining the world...
YES! Our job is to raise kids to be adults that contribute, adults that can be self-sufficient, adults that we actually like! Gotta say, as a parent of kids 4 and 7, it's terrifying to be a witness to my generation coddle their kids. It's not everyone, but it seems to be the majority. By their standards, holding my kids accountable for their actions is seen as child abuse. While their standard, of never saying no, is the way...? That, to me, is child abuse. You're forever crippling them. Since when do children know what's best for themselves?! THAT'S OUR JOB! The result is exactly this - kids who can't analyze squat, who don't understand fundamental truths...about anything. Yeah, maybe my 4 year old is just parroting what I say when I'm upset about whatever nonsense Kamala just spewed on TV and doesn't totally understand, but college-aged kids? They also seem to be regurgitating what they've been told without an iota of self-reflection and regulation.
Too many choose safety over freedom. One of the big lockdown lessons learned.
A time of no war? Seriously? My youngest, not long out of college himself, saw his father deployed to Iraq while he was a fourth grader. Of course, my son is rather conservative, and is now himself in the Navy. The development of a military caste in this country is extremely concerning. Those outside of it are unaware of some key truths, and do not understand the experiences of many of their fellow Americans.
Yes, we've been at war one way or another since Vietnam. We have not been in a war where the US mainland has been threatened [i]domestically[i/] (yet).
Exactly!! If not before, looking at II & SK & the plethora of worldwide involvement since. Just tracking all the US machinations prior to Ukraine outburst & current on the ground ops is reminiscent of VN buildup -- and deployments now to ME ... imagine it looks pretty kinetic for our troops on foreign land & sea. 750 bases in 80 countries aren't there for the Starbucks!
Maybe they meant, a time of No Draft for war. Of course the Dems want to change that.
I find it ironic that you’re involved in a lawsuit for free speech but rant against Alex Jones and fail to see how unjust what has been done to him is. Even if he lied intentionally, which I don’t believe, then some people’s feelings were hurt, but how would that entitle those people to receive so much, if any at all?
Your failure to understand that it’s the same machine going after both of you to control the narrative is very myopic.
"The State" hates Jones and took him down. They hate DJT and have engaged in lawfare to bankrupt him, put him in prison for life, and keep him from holding office (no matter what it takes). Assassination attempts, lying, cheating?
It's quite simple. The left hijacked the education system for the last 20 years, turning our youth into non thinking, communist loving robots. The funny part, and this is sweet, is that it happened right under the noses of the parents. They turned their kids over the education system to raise. They were too busy working a million hours so they could afford that next BMW 7 series, ya know, to look socially acceptable. People, as you know, are obsessed with what others think of them. Nothing better than vanity, the best all natural opiet.
What you achieve easily, you esteem lightly.
Why are you surprised? This is learned behavior. Look at the curriculum taught public schools (the ones that receive the most money per student in the world and whose rankings continue to fall), what is being advocated by the media (and what is being ignored), and the lies our government officials feed us every day - for their benefit. And we scratch our heads at the results? We are at the tipping point. Fact.
I started school in January 1944 and while only five I/we knew our freedom was under attack. Later Civics and history were taught in school. In the early years I would listen to radio news with my parents and in the early years of TV we would all watch the evening news with Cronkite or Huntly, Brinkley. At 12 I got a paper route in DC, serving 175 weekday and 225 Sunday papers and you could not avoid what was going on.
The value of freedom of speech is no longer taught or appreciated. And I truly believe that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the 1st. Both are under serious and dedicated attack now.
Hey Alex, I'm a little late to the party because 1) I wasn't surprised; 2) I've been a victim of speech suppression; 3) I'm actually working in one of our supposedly "higher ed" environment and didn't have time to comment yesterday. Our current students have the attention spans of fleas. Covid lock downs made it so much worse. Everyone wants to do everything via video or recordings. When you can't/don't look someone in the eye as they explain their position, you can just shut them out. They are not human any more and don't deserve respect. I, a professional (non-faculty), for more years than I'd like to admit to, was chastised in the past 6 months for defending the term "white paper". Yes, a common type of report, because some bone head somewhere didn't like the word white. I was told that I made our international graduate students "uncomfortable". Let me say here, there was no evidence of that. At another time, the same language watchdog objected to another staff member saying a study was a "blind" study. Now, you and I both know, that a double-blind study is the gold standard for research. Please do go back-these people, not just students, are not being challenged enough. They are worse than snowflakes, they are puddles.
As the parent of a college senior at a southern state school, I think you are reading too much into the scenario. My son and his friends are conservative. They even vote for conservative candidates. They are tired of all the rhetoric. They don't want to hear it any more. They have learned how to play the game to appease their liberal professors, but they don't want to spend their free time talking or hearing about "that crap" (his words, not mine). They think we live in the best country in the world, but they think the government is a waste of time, resources, and money. They don't want or expect government hand outs. They don't expect to get social security or medicare, and they are planning accordingly. They think the kids who protest are joyless, virtue-signaling losers who don't know how to have fun. They are more concerned about getting a job, buying a house, and paying bills. I get it. I was the same way in the 80s when I graduated from college. I voted for Reagan, but I did not pay attention to the news or what was going on in the world. It never occurred to me that I could not do or say what I wanted. It never occurred to me that my own freedom could be at risk.
All that to say, I don't think that the students don't support fundamental rights; I think they don't appreciate the threats. Also, my son is not going to listen to his mom (whom he loves and pays his tuition) for more than 10 minutes without rolling his eyes. He is certainly not going to go listen to a stranger lecture for an hour, even if you have beer and pizza.
umm...wild guess here, but a senior at Texas A & M, per chance?
As long as Tic Toc, Instagram and Snapchat are available, they don't care about anything. They are easily brainwashed (as seen by the fake pandemic), etc. In the meantime they are being told they are victims and have no chance in life, they will never be able to afford a house, never be able to have a family. Religion is dead to them, because Jesus does not have X account. I am not talking about 14 year olds, these are college students and beyond.
Love your plug (Pay for me, get the readers for free!).
I really do love the readers!
Kamala Harris has expressed concern that social media can operate without supervision or regulation. Tim Walz falsely says hate speech and misinformatio are not protected. Why should we expect college students to be concerned with free speech when some of America's leaders have no appreciation of it?
My father owned a business that repaired, sold and maintained certain types of fire equipment for government and refineries. He tried to put together an apprenticeship program that would get these guys certified. The biggest problem was although they were high school graduates they could barely read and write. We had to let several good employees go because they simply could not read manuals. This was 25 years ago. This is what the fine school systems are turning out. A high school diploma is nothing but a participation trophy.. I’m sure most of these kids have no idea what you’re talking about when you mention free speech. (I never had to buy no speech, what’s he talking about?)
I think it's part of a larger cultural shift that places conflict avoidance and considering the feelings of others much higher than they used to be. I notice it even with younger people's hesitance to drop by their friends or even families houses unannounced, for fear that they might somehow be imposing on them. And the switch from talking to texting as a more passive, non-confrontational form of communication. Also, I think growing up in a time of abundant material wealth has left students unable to really conceive of govt as a potential threat, or something that would ever need to be seriously challenged.
Imagine the damages from COVID-19 policies say in 26 years. And no one is talking about it and no accountability.
As noted in the previous thread (posted too late to make this edition) the root of the problem lies in the State sponsored control operation carried out by psychologists and psychiatrists overseeing our teacher training colleges and our schools. We have allowed an Orwellian MKULTRA Psyops task force to assume total control over future generations. It will take a HUGE deprogramming effort to undo the damage.