This morning I have been gathering my thoughts on why I even bother to write about saving Western culture. There are things I see every day that indicate to me that the effort is futile – that things have progressed too far and for too long now, to save it. But I am going to continue to write, at least to say “I gave it a try.”
I’ve also been giving some thought to the manner in which I write, who my intended audience is, and what I am trying to convey to that audience. I guess that I would say that my audience is anyone who is overwhelmed by the chaos, who doesn’t have time to sort through the massive amount of information that they are bombarded with each day, who can’t figure out what is true and what is not, and who has a feeling that there is nothing they can do to stop what is happening.
In these articles, I am attempting to consolidate some of that information, to summarize it, to distill it down to a few critical concepts that people need to recognize and understand, and to make suggestions where they might go for additional information. As such, I don’t want to fall into the group of “News Aggregators”, like Drudge, or Revolver, or Citizen Free Press, for example, or even opinion sites like Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Zero Hedge, or others.
I am not trying to cover all the news. My focus is much more narrow. My focus is on what matters to Saving Western Civilization, or at least the good aspects of it.
I intend to focus on issues related to saving TRADITIONAL Western culture, not just in the US, but anywhere it exists. I will differentiate what I mean between ”Traditional” Western culture and “Modern” Western culture later, but for now, I want focus on what I feel is the most pressing, and most critical issue happening around the world today: The Global Attack on Free Speech.
Pushing back against the Attack on Free Speech
The title for this article comes from another recent Substack article by Dr. Robert Malone. The title of that article is “The Very Fabric of This Great Nation will be Torn in Ways That Can Not be Repaired”. The Subtitle of his article is the title of this article: “Preservation of our First Amendment Rights is Paramount”. I would argue that it is the “most paramount” issue we face today, for once Freedom of Speech is lost, nothing else will matter.
We must restore our ability to communicate. Restore Free Speech. Reclaim that right from those trying to take it away, and hold those who are trying to take our First Amendment right away accountable for their actions.
In his article, Dr. Malone presents much more background information than I ever intend to, and I recommend that you take the time and read his full article, as well as the comments that follow it. There is probably as much for the reader to learn in the comments as there is in the article itself!
My intent today is to drill down into the article and to pull out the most thought-provoking quotes, the ones that will make you want to read the article, and then to do something, anything, no matter how big or small, to help push back on the loss of Free Speech…
The first quote that summarizes the main problem today, in a nutshell, is a quote from Andrew Lowenthal that Dr. Malone re-quotes in his article. This quote is in agreement with what Whitney Webb talked about in her interview with Mark Moss, which was the subject of my last article, “Who Are ‘They’?” Her point was that over the last few decades, government has changed, and it has become more aligned with the interests of other entities and less aligned with the citizens that it is supposed to serve. As Andrew Lowenthal says (and as Dr. Malone repeats within a larger context):
“Government and philanthropic oligarchs have colonized civil society and proxied this censorship through think-tanks, academia, and NGOs. Tell this to the sector, however, and they close ranks around their government, military, intelligence, Big Tech, and billionaire patrons. The field has been bought. It is compromised. Pointing that out is not welcome. Do so, and into the ‘basket of deplorables’ for you.”
After going through example after example of this type of behavior, Dr. Malone asks the question:
Who is leading these systemic efforts? What agencies? How deep does the propaganda and censorship go? Is this even a real concern or just another conspiracy theory? These are legitimate questions and the public deserves answers.
Again, these are questions Mark Moss and Whitney Webb are asking, too. And in their interview, they at least name a few names… Dr. Malone then continues by saying that:
The American people can no longer trust that the US government to be neutral. Our rights to a free press and free speech are being stripped away daily. The US government, big tech, media, pharma, the military are acting in a coordinated fashion to censor and create propaganda.
And then he concludes his article by saying that:
I truly believe that if the American people, Congress, and the courts do not act fast, that very fabric of this great nation will be torn in ways that can not be repaired. Our rights of free speech and free press will soon be consumed by the US Governments’ need to control. Is this a national government we want to live under?
Is this a national government we want to live under?
It is bigger than that. The question should be, “Is this the kind of global government we want to live under?” Because that is where the “arc of history” that our Progressive politicians have mentioned is taking us, that is the larger objective of those in power today: Global Governance, a One World Government, where citizens of the USA are no different from anyone else, anywhere on the planet.
In their vision, we are all “Global Citizens”. Stateless, without property rights, no national allegiance will be required, because national boundaries will be erased. A global Utopia. That’s their vision and what they are working to achieve…
And they will continue to do so until the apocalyptic collapse and the reality of human nature takes over again… Sure, things are different these days, with technology and AI and all, but history is full of examples for how Utopias are never quite achieved and people die along the way…
With that perspective in mind, it strikes me that what we in the United States must do is to be clear about what makes us different from those other countries around the world when it comes to Free Speech. And that is the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
It is that document that our elected representatives swear to uphold prior to taking office. As for the office of the Presidency, according to Article II, Section 1, Clause 8:
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
As it relates to Oaths of Office Generally, as it pertains to Senators and Representatives, Article VI, Clause 3 states:
“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
“Senators and Representatives… and the Members of the several State Legislatures and all executive and judicial Officers… shall be bound by Oath of Affirmation, to support this Constitution…” Does that sound like what we have today in the United States? Where are our elected officials defending the right to Free Speech? Based on their Oath, that defense should be unanimous in favor of Free Speech
I say “No, that doesn’t sound like the majority of our elected officials, regardless of party affiliation.” Instead, we’ve got a majority of elected officials in government today that need to re-read that clause and then realize that they may eventually be held accountable for not upholding their Oath and their promise to the citizens of the United States of America.
“World On Cusp Of Woke Totalitarianism As Governments Act To End Freedom Of Speech”
In another article, titled “World On Cusp Of Woke Totalitarianism As Governments Act To End Freedom Of Speech”, Michael Schellenberger (one of the journalists involved with the release of the Twitter Files, and who has apparently turned into a hard-core advocate for Free Speech since), along with Alex Gutentag, explain what else is happening around the world when it comes to Free Speech.
They summarize it in the subtitle to the article, as follows: “Media blackout as politicians in EU, US, UK, Brazil, Ireland, Canada, and Australia seek to jail citizens for wrongthink under the cover of a Big Lie about ‘hate speech’”
The premise of the article outlines the global scope of the attack on Free Speech:
The Twitter Files gave us a window into how government agencies, civil society, and tech companies work together to censor social media users. Now, key nations are attempting to enshrine this coordination into law explicitly.
Around the world, politicians have either just passed or are on the cusp of passing sweeping new laws, which would allow governments to censor ordinary citizens on social media and other Internet platforms.
Under the guise of preventing “harm” and holding large tech companies accountable, several countries are establishing a vast and interlinked censorship apparatus, a new investigation by Public finds.
Politicians, NGOs, and their enablers in the news media claim that their goal is merely to protect the public from “disinformation.” But vague definitions and loopholes in new laws will create avenues for broad application, overreach, and abuse.
The authors highlight several recent examples of legislation being pushed in Ireland, Canada, and even our own “Restrict Act” here in the United States, pointing out that the underlying driver for it all is that “Governments aim for total control.”
The authors then point out how the momentum for censorship is being established in Europe, before being spread elsewhere around the world:
The key area of action is the European Union. It is seeking sweeping new powers to regulate social media companies. And if it acts, it may change how social media companies operate worldwide, given the EU’s economic power and influence globally.
The attack on Free Speech today is global. And it is coordinated. And it is progressing rapidly.
The authors end the “free version” of the article with a compelling statement followed by some equally compelling questions:
There has been no moment similar to this one in the roughly 30 years of widespread public Internet usage in Western societies.
Officials have introduced these policies mostly in the dead of night with little publicity or outcry. There has been a virtual blackout of what’s happening by mainstream news media corporations, with many appearing to support the new laws.
As shown with the Twitter Files, the Censorship Industrial Complex is as much about discrediting accurate facts, true narratives, and content creators who threaten its power while boosting the ones that do.
We are thus witnessing the emergence of a governmental apparatus with the power to control the information environment in ways that determine what people believe to be true and what is false.
As such, it is no exaggeration to say that the West is on the cusp of a new and much more powerful form of totalitarianism than either Communism or Fascism, which were limited in their reach by geography.
If we are to defeat it, we must understand it. Why are governments seeking to crack down on freedom of speech from New Zealand to the Netherlands and Brazil to Canada? Why now? And why are they getting away with it?
What can we do about it?
One question that is missing from this article is “What can we do about it?” Another might be “What makes us different in the US? What better enables us to push back against this attack?”
They may go into more detail or ask more questions in the additional content that is available to their paid subscribers. Or there may be comments from paid subscribers who may have all the answers. I’m not sure what additional information is available from the authors since I can’t see that part of the dialog.
I am an unpaid subscriber and can report only on what I have access to (note that the whole “Paywall” concept itself seems a little suspect when it comes to trying to figure out how to save the country – that is, requiring readers to pay for access to information to learn how to save the country… I’ve written about that previously, too…).
Even though I remain an unpaid subscriber, I recommend that those reading this article follow the link to the Schellenberger and Gutentag article and not just take my word on the entirety of what they are trying to convey – I may have missed something due to my Western bias… My take on Free Speech is that, as described above, citizens of the United States of America have the First Amendment on their side. And that has to be the leverage used to push back against the globalists’ ambitions.
Now if only we can find a Constitutional Lawyer who has interest in defending the Constitution rather than undermine it…