by Batko Milacic for The Saker Blog
Free speech has long been a cornerstone of Western society. However, within the past few years the situation has completely changed. Recently, one of the Western`s oldest public figures – the legendary leader of the Western Civil Liberties Union Ira Glasser, who for many years fought against racism, violation of the rights of workers and employees, and government corruption, spoke about a discussion that took place at one of the leading Western universities following a lecture he had delivered there. Young people, from student to professor, argued that freedom of speech is incompatible with social justice because it cannot fully guarantee the rights of LGBT people, migrants and non-white minorities. Glasser, who had fought for the equal rights in Western society for many years, was frightened to see Western democracy dying right before his eyes.
In a modern society freedom of speech cannot be absolute. Defamation, personal, racial, gender and other insults are inadmissible. There are courts that are supposed to protect the rights of those offended, but no one can deprive a person of the right to express his or her opinion on such issues as illegal migration, the destruction of the education system, the tax system or when heterosexuals serve in the army alongside representatives of sexual minorities. Or maybe already can? In the midst of the pandemic, freedom of speech has become lopsided – the “cancellation culture” has led to calls for violence against members of the successful middle class, who in turn are no longer able to raise their voice in defense of their rights. What is even more outrageous is that this was done to please the old political elites … mostly white and very wealthy.
However, while previously high-profile cases such as Watergate, the Bill Clinton sex scandal and others got in the media spotlight leading to the conviction and often impeachment of politicians, in the course of the past five years the situation has changed. Facts are no longer needed. Investigative journalism has been replaced by fakes and unfounded statements. Certain political forces clearly benefit from this new reality. Democrats support BLM, LGBT people and migrants. Therefore, any accusation against them is a lie, a manifestation of racism and intolerance. Any evidence presented was fabricated in Moscow and Beijing and handed over to Trump. All media outlets that do not support Democrats are lying.
As a result, Joe Biden’s supporters got a powerful trump card – almost complete impunity. Supporting corporations such as Amazon can exploit their employees any way they like, but any complaints about their inhuman work schedule is a provocation by the Trumpists, because Amazon is a company where gender equality is respected and they have diversity directors. The situation at the largest startups in Silicon Valley, the main sponsors of the Democratic Party, is the same.
Accordingly, any accusations against the party of the current President cannot be considered objectively – after all, these are all lies told by the enemies of minorities. Consider, for example, the 2016 scandal with $84 million, which, thanks to Hillary Clinton, replenished the Democrats’ election coffers, in violation of the law on maximum party funding. Trump has long tried to initiate an official investigation of all this, but without success. The same with the scandal surrounding Biden Jr., for whom his father secured a cushy job on the board of Ukraine’s Burisma Company with a monthly salary of a hefty $50,000. When the Ukrainian opposition tried to initiate an investigation into this, Joe Biden simply replaced the country’s disloyal Prosecutor General. Moreover, he brags about it in his public speeches. And brag he certainly can, because changing the prosecutor in a semi-colony is a truly democratic way to go. Attempts by Trump supporters to prove that the Bidens’ activities were illegal have failed despite all the evidence corroborating the charge. The “Democrats” simply said it was a fake.
The same about the Clintons, whose lobbying structures worked hard defending the Bangladeshi banker Muhammad Yunus accused of corruption. Hillary Clinton personally threatened the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The news about this appeared in the media, but there were no investigations either. Biden, just like the Clintons and other leading Democrats are all hereditary politicians representing the top tier of American society. Most of the Democratic party leaders came to power from Ivy League universities, not from street protests or black neighborhoods. However, it was they who initiated and spearheaded the LGBT and BLM protests, launched the “cancellation culture” and are now enjoying the fruits of their labors. Getting into their closed club is no easy matter. It is easier to leave it, as did Bernie Sanders, a popular politician but a bit too independent for the taste of the Democratic Party bosses. As a result, he was forced to pull out of the presidential race.
At first glance it may seem that Western’s Big Business has nothing to gain from protests and new cultural codes, which theoretically make it possible to declare a boycott of any company. However, while stores in many cities were being burglarized and calls were being made to abolish the “white privileges,” Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Postmates and other corporations spent more than $200 million to push new and tighter labor legislation through the courts, thus dealing another blow to the middle class, which now pays for everything. By the way, this whole process was set in motion by Tony West, the son-in-law of the new Vice-President Kamala Harris, the first woman of color in this post, who comes out as a champion of minority rights.
So, let the protests and all the noise being made about the “oppressed minorities” not fool you. This only makes the “Democratic Party” inviolable, so welcome to the beautiful new West – a one-party system with “right” freedom of speech. If you want more evidence and examples to arrive to the same conclusions as did the author of this article, spend a few minutes watching a good video that is going viral every day:
Batko Milacic is an independent analyst who lives in Podgorica (capital of Montenegro), he is 30 years old. He graduated history at University of Montenegro and his graduate thesis was: “Foreign Policy of Russia from 1905 to 1917”. He has been doing analytics for years, writing in English and Serbian about the situation in the Balkans and Europe. He participated in several seminars for young journalists, organized in the Balkans.
Well put Batko. Thanks mate
Don’t worry Batko, non-whites are still be screwed by the system. You’re sounding like a bleeding heart yourself!
There’s only a minute difference between the 2fer1 Parties, both supporting GENOCIDE in non developing countries an’ all.
” Investigative journalism has been replaced by fakes and unfounded statements”
Shouldn’t this read
Investigative journalism by the MSM has been replaced by fakes and unfounded statements
The “liberal” Democrats have gone completely totalitarian. Their racial views are a mirror image of the German Nazis. “White” people are evil now instead of “Jewish” people. Both US LIB-Dems and Nazis hate the Russians. They prefer the irrational, believing that using logic is evidence of a White Racist attitude. They should be easy to defeat , but the Stupid Party, the GOP, is so addicted to American Nationalism that they have a good chance of being totally irrelevant.
Quite a distorted view there on the Nazis as ‘Slavs’ suffered the brunt of their Evil.
No. what is killing the West is wild capitalism, technofeudalism, selfishness, lack of solidarity and mercy. Yesterday, a Brazilian psychopath who lives in the United States, an extremist defender of liberalism, arrived in Brazil because he is sick and came to be treated in Brazilian public hospitals. He preaches against social measures, he defends the minimum state, but when he got sick he ran to our public health system… and left the country of liberalism, the country of meritocracy, of each man for himself.
Except that what is being practised in the USA is not capitalism at all. What it is, is neo fuedalistic fascism, the merging of the interests of government, the oligarch/kleptocracy class and the born to rule asshats. THAT right there is why the public health system of a second world state offers a far better promise of a decent health service than the shining light up there on the hill.
@eagle eye: I agree with you. Except, if we step out of theory, that “true capitalism” never existed.
@José Gomes: yes, scammer “philosopher” Olavo de Carvalho. He’s one of the main links between US Deep State and Bolsonaro government/Brazilian comprador elite. Lives in Richmond, Virginia (CIA anyone?) and his ideas/projects/backers are artificially pumped on social media, such as “Brasil Paralelo”. A complete traitor. A peaceful death wouldn’t be enough.
BS.
Free speech is basically freedom to speak truth without being jailed or fined.
The freedom to say 2+2=4 when Goldman Sachs says 2+2=7 and the sheeple run after GS to do their bidding for the 30 shekel offered.
So the problem is quite easy to solve. Ban lies and semantic manipulations and Goldman Sachs goes bankrupt.
And who is going to legislate the banning, Tomsen? A Congress brought and paid for by the likes of Goldman Sachs?
Right there is why the problem is not easy to solve at all and will require a hell of a lot more commitment that blasting out the occasional comment. What will be required is lots of work finding decent legislators from among the common folk and forcing the system to allow them to be elected into office. And yes, it will require force. Those benefitting from the current system ain’t about to hand it over just because somebody says please.
I have not been in China so anyone pls correct me if wrong, but as far as I know China has banned lies, fake and personal attacks on their Internet and media.
You are allowed to show a turtle with reference to some public Chinese administration but not attack any individual, which in my view is the correct form to do it.
The Nobel Prize for example is banned from being advertised, because its a lie organisation.
Just saying it can be done. Also remember 30 years ago we had the opportunity to sue the media in Court for smearing and fake, and that our media were much more open for factual discussions like here on Saker..
It is only in the last 20-30 years the fake campaigns and lie industry got super organised and hermetic closed in West.
Dobar dan Batko!
There was never freedom of speech, information in this American (assisted by the UK) system.
Truth was manufactured by the system and dissent was dismissed or killed.
It is more obvious now, since the Empire is no longer in control and it is doubling up with naked fascism.
There is an enforced ‘Gleichschaltung’ of the whole planetary media to say what they wish to be said. Headlines and stories are the same in Washington, Paris, Berlin or Singapore.
Dissent is conspiracy, fake or extremist.
The US eventually will end having an internal civil war, meanwhile it will be happy to blame all their selfinflicted problems to Russia and China.
It is a dying animal making a lot of noise.
Cheers from France.
Let me add that ‘freedom of speech’ have been further curtailed (or actually minimized) by social media:
« Les réseaux sociaux génèrent une invasion d’imbéciles. » Umberto Eco
In short:
1. Empire’s manufactured information & censorship
2. Psychopaths & ignorants saturating the social media with BS.
You must be very courageous to speak up in this oppresive chaotic mess of noise.
Cheers from France.
”Les réseaux sociaux génèrent une invasion d’imbéciles”
Oui, évidemment. Ce qui preuve irréfutablement l’abondance de ces espèces d’imbéciles dans notre bon vieil Occident, mdr.
“Social networks generate an invasion of fools”
Yes, of course. Which irrefutably proves the abundance of these species of fools in our good old West, mdr.
“You must be very courageous to speak up in this oppresive chaotic mess of noise.”
Or, be so lucky that you can speak anonymously. :p
Verdict: A far too Pindo-centric take on a most interesting subject.
What we’re witnessing in the collective West is proof positive of the fact that neoliberalism has run its course, and how. Neoliberalism puts greed, corruption, incompetence, indifference, and total rejection of productive industry in command all along the line. It’s unapologetically and utterly elitist, which slowly but surely is dawning upon the West’s gullible middle classes and used-to-be labour aristocracies with their huge indebtedness, which is a characteristic of most Western states as well.
As for the woke ideological hogwash, I think its ’moral stature’ can be accurately gauged by the fact that Madeleine Albright can write a book (would have been apt as an autobiography) titled Fascism: A Warning and get away with it. The same kind of in-your-face arrogance which had Henry Kissinger receive the Nobel Peace Prize while overseeing genocide in Indochina and enforcing neoliberalism in Latin America.
But the silver lining is that the West is dying right in front of our eyes. The resolve and the achievements of the resistance have already become unmanageable for the parasites, ’woke’ or not.
sigh :( still white stuff all round… let me share w you the other-color stuff…
freedom of speech only works if the listening crowd have intelligence and can formulate their opinion to agree or disagree in order to correct or add-on to the speaker, by extension the listening public
freedom of speech dont work for the deplorables, the npc, the sheeples and slaves and whatever else who dont even pass simple language test
freedom of speech is NOT for ‘I want to say what I want to say’
freedom of speech is ‘how can I add to the wellbeing and correction/advancement of the humanity’, that is, if I dont have anything worthwhile to say, shut-the-&&&&-up is the appropriate choice.
freedom of speech is not for self-expression purpose
freedom of speech is releasing the creative power within the speaker, that through his choice of words, advances humanity forward (not to stumble it and cause it to fall, and god forbid cut off the kneecap by ‘fact check’ agencies such as fb and the lot)
freedom of speech is a legal license to be heard, w/out fear of persecutions by the authorities, because they run counter to the flavour of the day, and such flavours come and go but wise words, important words live far longer than these authorities’ lifespan
so it is the speaker’s responsibility and fortitude to say something worthwhile and meaningful
the speaker MUST thus first earn the right to speak and then to be heard!
… and it starts from somebody who reads widely and alot, and thinks deep thoughts!
one who can see and live ego-less beyond the selfish ‘self’!
for self-expression stuff – go talk to the mirror!
yes?!
bwbs
Excellent Freedom of Speech speech you made here.
I’m gonna steal it OK .. and post it up on the community site. :-)
(Stick around, we will make you famous – a quip from some movie I think!)
Why do I say it is excellent? Because our friend here has just written up the difference between an Eastern and a Western philosophical base on freedom of speech.
Yes! Precisely.
Many philosophers and religion emphasize the importance of correct language. Language is here to please and comfort the receiver(s), not to mislead and fake us.
You keep floating near the real issue: The disintegration and loss of legitimacy of the US government. The government described above is not the government of the civics textbooks and the Constitution. Why keep pretending to its legitimacy? It is revolution from the top.
Its claims to rule should face rebellion. Real rights are not granted but taken. So it was in the 18th century. So it will be again.
The proper descriptor is Tyranny.
Government has become a Tyranny.
Technically, because of its relationships with corporations (MIC) and Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Agri, this Washington, D.C. Tyranny is a classic Fascist Tyranny.
It’s not a Swamp. It’s a rigid elitist Tyranny, It has a weak Executive, a Corrupt Legislature and submissive Judiciary.
The Republic has been captured and taken from the people. In its stead is a Cult with a fanatical ideology. They are conducting a Cultural Revolution, destroying the history of the country and terrorizing all those who refuse to fall into step with the Cult.
A Tyranny. Pure, simple, historical.
Of course, there’s no freedom of speech.
,
I like your characterization of what has happened. “…a rigid elitist Tyranny.” Straight, sweet and to the point.
Before passing away early this year, one close relative who otherwise never discussed his political views said, “America no longer exists.” I think it was gone long before then, but it wasn’t until Trump was somehow elected that the mask of decency fell off. I recall when Obama was first elected, that when his supporters demanded he close Guantanamo and stop the torture, he said, “Make me.” Our republic was gone before then too, and likely before 911, or alternative analyses of the demolition would still have been within the Overton window.
It’s hard to say exactly when the republic was captured–perhaps 20 years after Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote, but I think fascism was only slowly working its foot in the door at that point, and if we believe Andrew Lobaczewski’s analysis of how societies fall to corruption and tyranny, it is just about time right about now for the hysteroidal cycle to peak once again in the West. The good times, he said, lead necessarily to the bad. RIP sweet illusion of Western democracy. I weep from abroad for my country.
I like Larchmonter’s take on it as well.
As for the time of the capture of the Republic, perhaps Kennedy’s assasination provides a clue?
Freedom of speech and freedom is dissent is healthy to society.
The fact you or someone is wrong, and that is pointed out is beneficial to society.
Same old garbage, just another day Nick Turse was right when he said “somewhere in the jungles of Vietnam America lost its soul” and without a doubt its morals to go along with it, and the LGBT movement hasn’t helped any, other countries like Russia Hungary and others know just how destructive it really is old Roman was a good example of what happens once that got rooted in its society which aided in its downfall, and we are on the same path and will end up the same way.
Freedom of speech is necessary to ensure abuses of government and minorities are reported and discussed.
When a society gives too much power and rights to minorities they oppress the remainder.
The current agenda by various elements in the West is about muzzling dissent, reporting and discussion against their grab for power, corruption and other immoralities.
The end result will be a backlash that will destroy the perpetrators – which is in the pipeline now.