Like Sheep to the Slaughter
Why Uncensored Free Speech Is Crucial to the Maintenance of a Free Republic
“[I]f Men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind; reason is of no use to us – the freedom of Speech may be taken away – and, dumb & silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.” – George Washington to officers of the Continental Army, March 15, 1783, Head Quarters, Newburgh, New York
Free thought matters and must be allowed for a people to remain free. For a people to be creative in its thinking and problem-solving, free thought is a prerequisite; otherwise, only politically-correct prescriptions in line with government ideology (rather than individual needs) would be safe for We the People to express. Cancel Culture — the politically-correct culture of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Castro, among others — censors ideas, burns books, and bans writers (or deplatforms bloggers) to force lockstep and conformity in any and all ideas being expressed, to coerce the people to give up on politically-incorrect “wrongthink” as a waste of effort.
The political Left — comprised of Fascists, Communists, and adherents to every other variety of Socialism — does not argue with its critics so much as it silences them by disappearing their statements, incarcerating their bodies, and — oftentimes — even taking their lives. Without free thought, no ideas can be safely uttered without state approval, allowing a criminal dictatorship to have its way by wielding the legitimate violence of the state against all dissenters.
Eternal vigilance is necessary in defense of the natural rights to which all free people are entitled. And uncensored freedom of speech must be allowed every free individual (only making exception for outright slander or putting individuals in physical danger). There is no such thing as emotional safety, so the remedy for so-called “hate speech” or “triggering language” is more speech, not the cancellation of any particular variety of speech. Indeed, Hitler would have defined hate speech as being any kind of speech that demonized the Nazi Party — for example, any verbal or written expression suggesting that the Reichstag Fire was a false flag staged by the Nazis to generate fear of their Leftist rivals, the Communists, and to incentivize the passing of the Enabling Act that allowed Hitler to assume dictatorial powers. Because free speech was successfully suppressed by Hitler — and, therefore, any investigation that might accompany such speech — the issues surrounding the Reichstag Fire were never resolved to the satisfaction of all.
George Washington delivered a speech in Newburgh, New York, on March 15, 1783, wherein he stated, “[I]f Men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind; reason is of no use to us – the freedom of Speech may be taken away – and, dumb & silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.” It is perhaps interesting to note that “כצאן לטבח” (“like lambs to the slaughter”) is a Hebrew phrase found in the Bible (from Jeremiah 51:40), a text with which Washington would have been familiar. Albeit not a fully accurate description of all Jews in Nazi-era Germany, this phrase has often been used to describe what happened to many Jews during the Holocaust, due to Hitler’s consequential cancellation of free speech in Germany — similar to the American Left’s weaponized censorship that is being wielded against Constitutional conservatives in America today.
Is America now reliving, in some form, the politically-correct Cancel Culture of National Socialist [“Nazi”] Germany, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and Communist China? Santayana (1863-1952) has said, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Is it not important to teach America’s collective memory — its history — accurately once again, without all the Leftist political revisionism? Only by ceasing to tolerate censorship in all its forms will Americans be able to do this. If Americans are to enjoy truly free speech once again, the only thing to cancel is Cancel Culture itself.