You probably have not heard of Louis Michael Seidman yet. No problem, you did not miss anything. Although the 71-year-old professor at Georgetown University in Washington is counted among the “reputable” lawyers, he is also a typical representative of the politically correct, who are countless. A former activist for freedom of expression, he has now become an inflamed persecutor of the so-called hate speech.
In recent years, he often engages in self-criticism, saying that his previous view was wrong and it was a consequence of youth. He said to the New York Times: “When I was younger, I usually had a liberal opinion on civil liberties. Over time, I changed my point of view on this issue. I realized that it is wrong to claim that freedom of speech is a means to establish a more just society”.
Did you get this Copernican twist? A man who, as a young activist, fought for freedom of expression, believes in the winter of his life that freedom of speech damages society. He is not the only one. A law professor at Michigan University, Catharine A. MacKinnon, a year older than Seidman, a woman that men liked to turn around to look at, a woman who took liberty literally, went a step further. According to her, freedom of expression brings injustice, as it is also used to “spread ideas that excite”. Furthermore, “what was once a defense of the helpless, is primarily an elite weapon today”, says MacKinnon, who teaches the evolution of gender-based crime and gender equality at the university. She also says that freedom of speech today has become “the sword of dictators, racists and misogynists, Nazi and supremacists, pornographers and corporations buying the elections”. In short, the leftists and various progressivists are upset by the freedom of speech today, a freedom which they themselves up until recently defended, since they realized that it is valid for right-wingers as well.
What has changed in these years that such a change took place? The left lost its monopoly over the truth. The recognition that Internet media and social networks have become a powerful weapon of freedom of speech has led them to invent hate speech, which is to be prosecuted. For decades, cultural Marxists controlled the media, filtered readers’ letters, observed that editorial policy was in line with the multicultural doctrine, and were ready to attack the conservative governments. They did this, pay close attention, in the name of freedom of speech. The media must be progressive, right?
Ironically, the respect for human rights, among which the freedom of speech comes first, has consolidated capitalism, not to say conservatism. However, the power of protecting freedom of speech was first recognized by the leftists, who oppose it the most today. This means only one thing (or as Thomas D. Williams says): “It is clear as day that freedom of speech is of little concern to such liberals. They have always sought protection for their progressive ideas and behavior. As soon as the right-wingers began to demand the same protection for their speech, the leftists did not feel the idea of freedom of speech anymore”. What goes around comes around, we could say.
However, can you think what left-wingers are complaining about? It is that social networks and “alternative” media hold a mirror to the media mainstream, which spreads the ideas of progressive activism, publishing the other side of the story. This is most evident when reporting on illegal migration. If there were no internet, there would be a belief that educated people who want to work are coming to Europe. However, the Internet is day by day destroying this myth by displaying different stories about illegal immigrants. Of course, the leftists have no other choice but to declare these “alternative” stories hate speech and their authors racists, xenophobes, Islamophobes and fascists, reporting them to the prosecution. We experienced this at the Demokracija magazine last week. From the police note, we found out that the magazine and the undersigned editor were being prosecuted by the prosecution because of the cover story and title “Immigrants Bring the Culture of Rape to Slovenia”! They suspect us of promoting hatred, violence and intolerance with the cover. In addition to pushing away the advertisers from the magazine, as the left activists are trying to do.
The good side of this campaign is double. First, people are no longer afraid to be intimidated and say what they think, even if the leftists call them fascists. The elimination of this fear in the coming year is definitely a great advance for freedom. Secondly, the public is finally finding out who really is concerned about freedom and who would like to suppress it, enforce their own opinions and ban concerts, books, ads. Therefore, all my dear freedom-loving people, let us take it a step further in 2019.
