Presently, I am blocked from posting or commenting on Facebook for seven days. As usual, they gave no reason. By inference, I can only guess that their reason for blocking me yet again was my complaining about their prior blocking me for no reason. This does not happen to any leftist — not ever. It happens to nonleftists every hour of the day. The term “double standard” does not begin to describe the magnitude of the breach in our society today.
This seems like as good a time as any to post great ideas from great thinkers on the subject of free speech.
The following quotes are from Ayn Rand.
Keep in mind that Rand’s eloquent definition of free speech applies to the distinction between government and private property in a mostly free society. We are no longer a free society. Facebook has openly acknowledged — even bragged — that it takes orders from the White House on whom or what to censor. Government is openly involved in the administration of social media, and social media is openly involved with the only governments it supports — hard leftist ones.
This is fascism — not freedom.
Freedom of speech means freedom from interference, suppression or punitive action by the government—and nothing else. It does not mean the right to demand the financial support or the material means to express your views at the expense of other men who may not wish to support you. Freedom of speech includes the freedom not to agree, not to listen and not to support one’s own antagonists. A “right” does not include the material implementation of that right by other men; it includes only the freedom to earn that implementation by one’s own effort. Private citizens cannot use physical force or coercion; they cannot censor or suppress anyone’s views or publications. Only the government can do so. And censorship is a concept that pertains only to governmental action.
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While people are clamoring about “economic rights,” the concept of political rights is vanishing. It is forgotten that the right of free speech means the freedom to advocate one’s views and to bear the possible consequences, including disagreement with others, opposition, unpopularity and lack of support. The political function of “the right of free speech” is to protect dissenters and unpopular minorities from forcible suppression—not to guarantee them the support, advantages and rewards of a popularity they have not gained.
The Bill of Rights reads: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . . .” It does not demand that private citizens provide a microphone for the man who advocates their destruction, or a passkey for the burglar who seeks to rob them, or a knife for the murderer who wants to cut their throats.
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