Censorship: Why It Matters

            “You’re not paranoid, if they are really out to get you.” ~~ Colloquialism of the Modern Era

            For some time, many of us have been expecting Facebook to limit our access. Many of us, and our friends, have had their accounts suspended for 24 hours, 3 days or even 30 days. Nothing says ‘we don’t like you,’ like an adult being put into “Timeout” by a multinational corporation.

            So, today, it finally happened. We have expected it. We have made our contingency plans. We have our Parlor, Minds, and Gab accounts already set up.  We have built our alternative platforms and shared as much information with each other as we are comfortable with to be able to keep in touch. This is not about the strategy, implementation, or anticipation of being targets of those who believe themselves to be our overlords. This is about why it matters. This is about recognizing where we are in this cycle of history. It is, most importantly, about correctly identifying the kind of enemy we currently face.

            In the book, They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer, the author says:

            “In 1935 I spent a month in Berlin trying to obtain a series of meetings with Adolf Hitler. My friend and teacher, William E. Dodd, then American Ambassador to Germany, did what he could to help me, but without success. Then I traveled in Nazi Germany for an American magazine. I saw the German people, people I had known when I visited Germany as a boy, and for the first time realized that Nazism was a mass movement and not the tyranny of a diabolical few over helpless millions.”

            Today we see a mass movement making strategic moves to establish themselves as the final authority on what is acceptable to say, think and yes, discuss.

            Mayer, in his book, then goes on to explain that he returned to Germany after the war and spoke with people who had lived under the Nazi government, 7 years after the war had ended. “Enough time had passed so that an American Non-Nazi might talk with a German Nazi, and not so much time that the events of 1933 to 45, and especially the inner feeling that attended those events, would have been forgotten by the man I sought.”

            Mayer speaks to 10 different Germans about their experiences with living under such a totalitarian government. Some were educated, others were more working class Germans. If you have the time, I recommend the book. It may surprise you to see just how things happened, from the German perspective. However, this is not a review of that book, perhaps later.

            This is about who is doing the censorship in the USA today. The Twitter and Facebook censorship of the New York Post was well documented by Fox News and the New York Post. The suspensions of the Trump Campaign and the White house Press Secretary were also well covered by Fox and others.  However, I do think this is my favorite Twitter suspension of 2020.

            Yes, you read that right. Twitter suspended the Commissioner of Customs and Border Patrol, Mark Morgan, for praising the success of the border wall.

            Saturday, October 31^st, Facebook did this.

            Facebook has ended a private group. They have decided that the ideas discussed, shared and questions asked by the Right are so dangerous, that they must be ended. According to some others in the  comments of that, and other posts, Facebook has ended numerous Private Groups today.

            So, what does social media censorship have to do with a book about Germany from 1933-45? Well at the risk of being obvious, it is about the people who are not being censored thinking that they are free. The ones not having their groups and friends suspended think that they are free. The people who agree with the transgender, BLM, Climate Change Commies don’t see that the people being told repeatedly that we are wrong, are the ones being censored. So, for them, there is no censorship. The voices that they want promoted are being promoted. The voices that they don’t want to hear from are being shut down. This means everyone is more free!

            It has been said many times that “Antifa are the real fascists.” They laugh at this idea and as they scoff, they declare, “Antifa means Anti-Fascists! We can’t be fascists.” I agree with their response. They are not fascists. They are the same Communists that they have always been. The authoritarian actions that they are taking today are not exclusive to Nazis. These actions are seen every time that authoritarians of every stripe move to take power. This is not about name calling. This is not about freedom of speech or assembly. This is about the Corporate Authoritarian push to control the nation. If you don’t think this is an issue, I recommend the TV show Continuum. The premise of that show is that the Corporations run the world. Governments still exist, they are just powerless to do anything without the corporations. That world is what we are seeing fall into place today with Facebook and Twitter deciding that only “acceptable” opinions will be allowed, even in private. 

            As historians have tried to explain “how did this happen?”, they have found many scapegoats to explain the support that the German people gave to Hitler and the Nazis. Look around you today. If you are sharing the fact that your group was purged from Facebook, how are your friends responding? Do they believe you? Do they question what someone like you could have been a part of that would get the group purged? If enough groups were swept up in this latest round of “cancel culture” will the Senate have some more show trials to express their disapproval of this kind of behavior? Will you terminate your Facebook and Twitter accounts? All of these questions will be answered in time. The most entertaining response will of course be if Facebook and Twitter start suspending the accounts of the people who were in the groups that were purged.