How Those Who Benefited from the First Amendment Are Now Destroying It

          The First Amendment freedoms of this country are responsible for every significant cultural and political movement (good or bad) that has occurred since our founding.  How much longer would slavery have endured if not for the right of the Abolitionist Movement to freely express their opposition to that inhuman institution?  How much longer would the treatment of African Americans as second-class citizens have persisted if voices like those of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had never been allowed an audience?  How much longer would women have had to wait for the right to vote if the Suffragettes had been silenced?
                Change in this country has occurred because vocal minorities have been allowed to speak freely, worship freely, assemble freely, petition the government without fear of reprisal, and have their point of view reported on by a free press.  This hasn’t always been carried out as perfectly as the Founders envisioned, but overall these freedoms have allowed meaningful change to take place in our country.  Change that may not have occurred or would have been much longer in coming, had the majority been able to silence voices of opposition.
                The Progressive Movement has had as its purpose enacting change.  Interestingly enough, racial equality was not always one of those changes, as early Progressives like Woodrow Wilson and Margaret Sanger were intensely racist.  But other changes, from abortion rights, to gay marriage, to the expanded role of government in every aspect of our lives have been made possible through Progressive activists using First Amendment rights to persuade the majority to accept what had previously been minority viewpoints.
                But now that Progressives have achieved or are within the grasp of achieving every significant cultural and political victory they sought to achieve, they are actively working to shutdown freedom of expression.  They won over culture through provocative books, movies, and TV shows that challenged the values held by the majority in this country.  Now Amazon is banning books that defy certain aspects of the new culture. Movies and TV shows all tow the new cultural line and any stars, writers or directors who dare to voice an opposing view run the risk of being blacklisted.
                Universities that once used to be forums for debate and bastions of free expression when run by Conservatives, now have become no-go zones for anything that challenges the orthodoxy of the Progressives who have taken them over.  The Free Press has devolved into nothing more than propaganda arms for the political parties, where objective truth has been replaced with spin and commentary.
                Try being a scientist with a differing view on climate change.  Try being a psychologist who believes that transgenderism is a mental disorder that should be treated with therapy instead of surgery.  Try being a doctor or a nurse that is opposed to performing abortions. Trying being a comedian who tells jokes that target anyone beyond Trump and his basket of deplorables.
                If the various cultural and political revolutions the Progressives carried out had faced the same stifling censorship there would be no mainstreaming of homosexuality, no acceptance of a growing Muslim influence, no tolerance for any viewpoint that contracted the Judeo-Christian majority.
                For all the criticism that Christians get for being bigoted and uptight, we have shown ourselves to be far more accepting and open-minded (perhaps to a fault) than the Progressives who have taken over our culture.  And this brings me to the current debate over Social Media.  The Big Tech companies have made themselves part of our daily lives.  Through free offerings and engaging platforms, they have accumulated a massive following of users that transcends cultural and political lines.  Need an answer to a question?  Google it.  Have a hot take about last night’s debate?  Tweet it.  Want your friends and family to see the new car you just bought?  Post it on Facebook or Instagram.  Are you an up-and-coming performer?  Upload a video to YouTube.  Want something delivered next day or want to read a book right now?  Find it on Amazon.
                So many of these tech platforms drew us in because they were free, fun, and easy to use.  But they weren’t really free.  They have cost us our identities.  These companies have been compiling every piece of data they possibly can on us, from the demographic information we willingly turn over when we register, to our search habits, our viewing habits and anything else they can glean from our various posts and interactions.  This information is a marketing professional’s dream and it is a valuable commodity, so much so that all these companies are among the wealthiest in our nation without charging a dime for use of their service.
                But like so much else, they are run by Progressives.  And like everything else, once the Progressives achieve power, they begin to use that power to shut down any opposition to them.  Anyone who has watched the uniformity of ideology on college campuses or in the media, should not be surprised by the growing elimination of diverse opinions on Social Media platforms.
                The debate has now become whether Social Media should be regulated as a utility.  Others suggest that they should have to declare whether they are platforms or publishers and lose any legal protections if they show themselves to be publishers making editorial decisions regarding what is allowed on their platforms.  Regulation will not stop the silencing of opposition, as Progressive ideology is interwoven in Federal Bureaucracy.  The platform vs. publisher argument will just force them to admit what they are and then force the hands of everyday Americans to decide if they want to continue to participate in a forum that is hostile to their beliefs.  In the end, many will probably continue to use such platforms.  Others will look for alternatives that may arise.  But in the end we will continue to become an even more divided nation – adding politically segregated Social Media platforms to our already politically segregated print and video mediums.
                And that is the true legacy of Progressivism.  In the name of trying to make America a better place, it is making us worse.  Not because all the causes they have championed have been bad (though many have), it is what they have done once they have gained power.  They are seeking to close and lock the door behind them.  They arrogantly believe that their plans are the final and best solutions for the current problems facing the country.  And they blindly believe that they will have the appropriate answers for any future problems that will arise.  The refuse to tolerate any point of view that calls their point of view into question.  In doing so they deny Americans access to a full spectrum of ideas and they limit opportunities to find common ground and restore a sense of unity.
                What they fail to understand in their hubris is that there will always be dissent – even to the most wisely conceived ideas.  If dissent is not allowed a reasonable outlet, then it turns into something festering and ugly.  Something that must either be dealt with through re-education camps or pogroms.  Or something that grows into a violent revolution.
                That is why reasonable people of every political, cultural, and religious background must stand for our First Amendment freedoms and accept no encroachment upon them.  Banning hate speech may seem like a fine idea until social norms shift and suddenly the things in which you believe are deemed hateful. It is better to be offended than to face the prospect of being silenced.  And for those who think that silencing is a good idea, ask yourself how far are you willing to go and what ramifications are you willing to unleash?  If you don’t think your ideas are capable of standing up against a challenge, then you should ask yourself if they are worth supporting in the first place.