I normally avoid reading anything on free speech. We have all heard the arguments and, after a certain age, you get to see how the brave souls who talk about freedom actually behave in real life. It is depressing to watch/recall.
Your take on the subject, John, was pretty good.
Free speech is like any capacity. It needs development at a granular level. Free speech is a precondition for many things, above all inquiry and insight. Free speech is wrapped up with lucidity, scepticism, curiousity, engaging with reality and with the right people (the ones who think for themselves).
At their best, people who are threatened by free speech are invested in a narrative. At their worst, they are uncomfortable with curiousity and complexity. The latter type are the most dangerous of all.
Ultimately the regime's accomplices (as well as the instinctively docile), want us quiet, alone with our thoughts and thereby isolated from others. The epistemic equivalent of solitary confinement.
The way forward is not to argue for freedom (yawn), but to think/write better in the first place and just keep on doing it till you drop. The more logical we are, the more exact and effective our speaking or writing, the better we embody the threat that really frightens them. Defiance over regulatory reform, as it were.
I do not want the state or corporations to recognise my rights (which they grant or take away to suit themselves and always will), I'd prefer to think more forcefully. I want less emphasis on them and what the regime wants or allows and more on us and how well or poorly we think. Focusing on regime-compliance is a time-sink and a talent-sink. If there is anything that I truly regret it is taking the system seriously. Life is too short.
This is just another front in the global war. Did anyone imagine that Substack would get a pass from the Eye of Sauron? This is a war of everything, everywhere, all the time and without end.
By the way, I do feel compelled to add that some people on the left agree with us on the free speech issue. One example is Glenn Greenwald from the USA who is fighting the good fight on this issue. There are a few others, I believe.
We are in the thick of it right now. We had to expect this at some point. That point is now. Exiting from fascism is part of this war. If we stay with talking we are likely to be alright. Just imagine this on an actual battlefield with weapons instead of words. War turns us into demons and this war of words no different. Chris Best and SubStack are our allies. Many people are just becoming aware. They are going to be angry - unreasonable. It is up to us to be the change we wish to see in this world. If hate speech is all we suffer we will be fortunate.
“Lexical liberty” reminds me of the “lexical error”message I once received in the corporate email (in the days when I still worked for a large semi-government corporation in the UK). This was circa 2008, so ancient history by now. I had been invited to speak at an academic conference on disability in the pre-modern world, which in today’s climate would tick every woke box possible. The organisers gave the conference the erudite Latin label “Homo debilis” (debilitated man, the closest Medieval Latin equivalent to disabled person). My email acknowledging my attendance was returned as undeliverable by the company email server due to “lexical error”, all due to that little offensive out of context word “homo”.
I hope not to have bored you with this anecdote, but to have highlighted how as early as 2008 the algorithm dictated correct thought and corresponding censorship. Needless to say I learnt the valuable lesson then of disguising my offensive lexical choices by creative spelling (“h*m*”), which stood me in good stead during the recent covid hysteria, when I managed to continue posting offensive misinformation on Phuckbook.
Apr 18, 2023·edited Apr 18, 2023Liked by John Carter
I won't be snorting Notes. You probably could guess a dozen reasons, but you've explained the 13th very well here.
"If you build it, they will come."
"They" being the Legion of wokescolds, undead hausfraus and other lobotomized tilapia which pollute and ultimately destroy every other platform that enforces or incentivizes brevity. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm longwinded, that I desperately need an editor, etc. But I don't do sound-bytes, and the people who do tend to be the same bunch who'll find a rationale for Heckler's vetoes, Assassin's vetoes and the like.
Apr 18, 2023·edited Apr 18, 2023Liked by John Carter
I'm proud to say I've never Twatted at all and have only possessed limited fake Farcebook accounts for contacts with various grassroot orgs.
The Twat character limit is self imposed silliness. Complex ideas often take length and time to formulate.
Twats always seemed to largely be snarky verbaculations seeking that coveted moneyshot over any long term commitment to actual ideas. Not that it's not entertaining sometimes. Like Porn it's best in small doses knowing full well the plots don't generally work in real life.
Substack reminds me of the multitude of forums of the late 90's often centered around a common interest or activity. It was a wonderful place and led to many actual real-life meetings and friendships I still have.
Substack will eventually be destroyed like the rest but in the meantime let us rejoice and actually connect in person when it seems warranted and prudent.
I'm going to reply before I read your whole article.
The 1st half dozen notes that appeared in my notifications were from authors testing it out, except 1 from a total stranger that I had no idea what it was about. My response was "wtf is this & why?" I already had concluded that "also posteds" cluttered up my notifications. This was a million times worse. So I limited my email notifications to replies & likes, so I can ignore notifications altogether.
It took me some time, but I think I discovered a way to banish notes. In my search, I also learned how to block trolls, so my very brief notes experience generated 2 positive results.
Beyond that, I'm not interested in notes. I realized, after twitter dumped my for calling that nazi NZ bitch, Jacinda, a nazi bitch, that twitter was an enormous time sink & beyond that, useless.
“Glorious and inspired as the First Amendment is…”
Hm. Yes it guarantees free speech. But it also protects a class/group of people (the religious). By so doing it opens the door to endless “civil rights” and “protected groups”. Those groups can claim that they should be protected from being harmed by, say, speech offensive to them.
Apr 17, 2023·edited Apr 17, 2023Liked by John Carter
The left will never cease in their attempts to neuter free speech. Their main goal is to create a "Newspeak" that serves no other purpose than to promote their ideology by enforcing the supremacy of their talking points...The genuine surprise to me is the manner and the relatively short time span that elements of the State have totally co-opted the Left for its own purpose.
Totally unrelated to the piece but as a reader of Edgar Rice Burroughs, I have to say I love the theme of the newsletter. Especially love the pictures of Barsoom the are sprinkled around the different pieces. Nice touch.
While we're picking on the left for subjugating free speech, let's remind ourselves that there is still a significant portion of the right who loses their mind at people kneeling during the anthem, or simply not showing respect for the flag or not standing up to support the troops.
It seems more insidious now because of the tech of the platforms but being anything but pro-USA in every way was every bit as taboo twenty years ago. Barbara Lee, for example.
I normally avoid reading anything on free speech. We have all heard the arguments and, after a certain age, you get to see how the brave souls who talk about freedom actually behave in real life. It is depressing to watch/recall.
Your take on the subject, John, was pretty good.
Free speech is like any capacity. It needs development at a granular level. Free speech is a precondition for many things, above all inquiry and insight. Free speech is wrapped up with lucidity, scepticism, curiousity, engaging with reality and with the right people (the ones who think for themselves).
At their best, people who are threatened by free speech are invested in a narrative. At their worst, they are uncomfortable with curiousity and complexity. The latter type are the most dangerous of all.
Ultimately the regime's accomplices (as well as the instinctively docile), want us quiet, alone with our thoughts and thereby isolated from others. The epistemic equivalent of solitary confinement.
The way forward is not to argue for freedom (yawn), but to think/write better in the first place and just keep on doing it till you drop. The more logical we are, the more exact and effective our speaking or writing, the better we embody the threat that really frightens them. Defiance over regulatory reform, as it were.
I do not want the state or corporations to recognise my rights (which they grant or take away to suit themselves and always will), I'd prefer to think more forcefully. I want less emphasis on them and what the regime wants or allows and more on us and how well or poorly we think. Focusing on regime-compliance is a time-sink and a talent-sink. If there is anything that I truly regret it is taking the system seriously. Life is too short.
This is just another front in the global war. Did anyone imagine that Substack would get a pass from the Eye of Sauron? This is a war of everything, everywhere, all the time and without end.
By the way, I do feel compelled to add that some people on the left agree with us on the free speech issue. One example is Glenn Greenwald from the USA who is fighting the good fight on this issue. There are a few others, I believe.
We are in the thick of it right now. We had to expect this at some point. That point is now. Exiting from fascism is part of this war. If we stay with talking we are likely to be alright. Just imagine this on an actual battlefield with weapons instead of words. War turns us into demons and this war of words no different. Chris Best and SubStack are our allies. Many people are just becoming aware. They are going to be angry - unreasonable. It is up to us to be the change we wish to see in this world. If hate speech is all we suffer we will be fortunate.
“Lexical liberty” reminds me of the “lexical error”message I once received in the corporate email (in the days when I still worked for a large semi-government corporation in the UK). This was circa 2008, so ancient history by now. I had been invited to speak at an academic conference on disability in the pre-modern world, which in today’s climate would tick every woke box possible. The organisers gave the conference the erudite Latin label “Homo debilis” (debilitated man, the closest Medieval Latin equivalent to disabled person). My email acknowledging my attendance was returned as undeliverable by the company email server due to “lexical error”, all due to that little offensive out of context word “homo”.
I hope not to have bored you with this anecdote, but to have highlighted how as early as 2008 the algorithm dictated correct thought and corresponding censorship. Needless to say I learnt the valuable lesson then of disguising my offensive lexical choices by creative spelling (“h*m*”), which stood me in good stead during the recent covid hysteria, when I managed to continue posting offensive misinformation on Phuckbook.
Yossarian in Catch-22: The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.
I won't be snorting Notes. You probably could guess a dozen reasons, but you've explained the 13th very well here.
"If you build it, they will come."
"They" being the Legion of wokescolds, undead hausfraus and other lobotomized tilapia which pollute and ultimately destroy every other platform that enforces or incentivizes brevity. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm longwinded, that I desperately need an editor, etc. But I don't do sound-bytes, and the people who do tend to be the same bunch who'll find a rationale for Heckler's vetoes, Assassin's vetoes and the like.
I'm proud to say I've never Twatted at all and have only possessed limited fake Farcebook accounts for contacts with various grassroot orgs.
The Twat character limit is self imposed silliness. Complex ideas often take length and time to formulate.
Twats always seemed to largely be snarky verbaculations seeking that coveted moneyshot over any long term commitment to actual ideas. Not that it's not entertaining sometimes. Like Porn it's best in small doses knowing full well the plots don't generally work in real life.
Substack reminds me of the multitude of forums of the late 90's often centered around a common interest or activity. It was a wonderful place and led to many actual real-life meetings and friendships I still have.
Substack will eventually be destroyed like the rest but in the meantime let us rejoice and actually connect in person when it seems warranted and prudent.
Fuckin A, man, fuckin A.
Without our God given right to cause offense, there would be no need of the 1st Amendment.
I'm going to reply before I read your whole article.
The 1st half dozen notes that appeared in my notifications were from authors testing it out, except 1 from a total stranger that I had no idea what it was about. My response was "wtf is this & why?" I already had concluded that "also posteds" cluttered up my notifications. This was a million times worse. So I limited my email notifications to replies & likes, so I can ignore notifications altogether.
It took me some time, but I think I discovered a way to banish notes. In my search, I also learned how to block trolls, so my very brief notes experience generated 2 positive results.
Beyond that, I'm not interested in notes. I realized, after twitter dumped my for calling that nazi NZ bitch, Jacinda, a nazi bitch, that twitter was an enormous time sink & beyond that, useless.
“Glorious and inspired as the First Amendment is…”
Hm. Yes it guarantees free speech. But it also protects a class/group of people (the religious). By so doing it opens the door to endless “civil rights” and “protected groups”. Those groups can claim that they should be protected from being harmed by, say, speech offensive to them.
It's a double edged sword.
The left will never cease in their attempts to neuter free speech. Their main goal is to create a "Newspeak" that serves no other purpose than to promote their ideology by enforcing the supremacy of their talking points...The genuine surprise to me is the manner and the relatively short time span that elements of the State have totally co-opted the Left for its own purpose.
Totally unrelated to the piece but as a reader of Edgar Rice Burroughs, I have to say I love the theme of the newsletter. Especially love the pictures of Barsoom the are sprinkled around the different pieces. Nice touch.
While we're picking on the left for subjugating free speech, let's remind ourselves that there is still a significant portion of the right who loses their mind at people kneeling during the anthem, or simply not showing respect for the flag or not standing up to support the troops.
It seems more insidious now because of the tech of the platforms but being anything but pro-USA in every way was every bit as taboo twenty years ago. Barbara Lee, for example.
"You might not always enjoy what you hear, because true things can be ugly when they conflict with your own model of reality."
Shit, man, true things are ugly when they are IN ACCORDANCE with my own model of reality.
You've been quite prolific these last few weeks! Keep at it! 🙌🏼