{"id":4371,"date":"2026-08-09T16:10:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T16:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4371"},"modified":"2026-08-09T16:10:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T16:10:45","slug":"the-new-censorship-isnt-coming-from-the-left-its-coming-from-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4371","title":{"rendered":"The new censorship isn\u2019t coming from the left\u2014it\u2019s coming from everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

One of the great ironies of American politics is that every movement swears it\u2019s against censorship\u2014right up until it has enough power to do some censoring of its own. It\u2019s almost adorable.<\/p>

Read more To SAVE America \u2014 or not?<\/a><\/p>\n

For years, conservatives rightly criticized Big Tech, universities, corporate America, and legacy media for suppressing dissenting viewpoints. We argued that free speech wasn\u2019t merely a constitutional protection; it was a moral principle. We insisted that bad ideas should be defeated in the marketplace of ideas rather than buried beneath bureaucratic decrees or algorithmic exile.<\/p>\n

I agreed then. I still do. Which is why I\u2019m beginning to ask a question that makes some people on my own side a little uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

What happens when conservatives become just as tempted to use institutional power to silence people they don\u2019t like? As a Black conservative, I\u2019ve learned that free speech is one of those principles everybody loves until somebody they can\u2019t stand starts talking. Then suddenly the Constitution comes with an asterisk.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest. Every political tribe has its favorite form of censorship.<\/p>\n

The Left often dresses it up in the language of safety, inclusion, misinformation, or protecting vulnerable communities. The Right is increasingly tempted to justify it in the language of patriotism, protecting children, combating ideological indoctrination, or preserving public morality. Different vocabulary. Same temptation.<\/p>\n

Power has an uncanny ability to convince us that our<\/em> restrictions are simply common sense while everyone else\u2019s are authoritarian. History suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n

Free speech has never been tested by agreeable people saying agreeable things. It has always been tested by offensive people saying offensive things. Defending speech you already like requires no courage whatsoever. Defending speech you find irritating, misguided, or even insulting is where constitutional principles stop being bumper stickers and become convictions.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I find myself increasingly skeptical whenever anyone begins a sentence with, \u201cI\u2019m all for free speech, but\u2026\u201d I\u2019ve learned that whatever follows \u201cbut\u201d usually involves someone deciding which opinions deserve oxygen and which should be quietly escorted out the back door.<\/p>\n

The First Amendment doesn\u2019t ask whether an idea is popular. It doesn\u2019t ask whether it polls well. It certainly doesn\u2019t ask whether it might ruin someone\u2019s afternoon on social media.<\/p>\n

It simply assumes that a free people are capable of hearing competing ideas without requiring the government\u2014or increasingly, private institutions acting under political pressure\u2014to function as national hall monitors.<\/p>\n

Some readers will immediately object. \u201cBut George, some speech really is dangerous.\u201d Of course it can be.<\/p>\n

Threats, criminal conspiracies, defamation, and direct incitement have long occupied well-established legal categories. That\u2019s not the debate. The debate is whether we have quietly expanded the definition of \u201charm\u201d until it now includes disagreement itself.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the way, Americans stopped saying, \u201cI think you\u2019re wrong.\u201d Instead, we started saying, \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be allowed to say that.\u201d Those are radically different civilizations.<\/p>\n

One believes truth emerges through debate. The other believes truth must be protected from debate.<\/p>\n

As conservatives, we should be especially careful here. For decades, we were the ones demanding viewpoint diversity on college campuses. We objected when bureaucrats decided which speakers were acceptable. We criticized technology companies for selectively enforcing their rules. We warned that concentrated cultural power eventually becomes political power.<\/p>

Read more The University of Michigan is now hiding grades from fragile freshman<\/a><\/p>\n

Were we making a timeless argument? Or were we merely complaining because we happened to be losing? That\u2019s the question history will eventually answer.<\/p>\n

Winning elections should never cause us to abandon the principles that helped us win the argument in the first place.<\/p>\n

One of the blessings\u2014and frustrations\u2014of being a Black conservative is that I don\u2019t fit comfortably inside anyone\u2019s political script. I\u2019ve been called a sellout by people who think race should determine ideology. I\u2019ve also occasionally been viewed with suspicion by people who assume conservatism requires intellectual conformity.<\/p>\n

Both misunderstand what attracted me to conservatism. It wasn\u2019t tribalism. It was liberty.<\/p>\n

Liberty means accepting that people will often say things that offend us. Liberty means resisting the seductive belief that if we could only silence enough bad opinions, society would finally become peaceful. It never works that way.<\/p>\n

Every censorship regime begins by promising to target only the truly dangerous voices. Eventually the definition of \u201cdangerous\u201d expands to include inconvenient voices, unpopular voices, and finally independent voices. That\u2019s not a partisan observation. That\u2019s human nature.<\/p>\n

Politics changes. Power changes hands. The precedents you create today will almost certainly be used by your opponents tomorrow. Conservatives above all people should understand that.<\/p>\n

Social media has only accelerated the problem. Every controversy now comes with an online firing squad. We don\u2019t simply disagree anymore\u2014we organize campaigns, demand apologies, contact employers, and measure victory by whether someone\u2019s life has been sufficiently detonated before dinner.<\/p>\n

Apparently we\u2019ve replaced \u201cI disagree\u201d with \u201cunsubscribe from his existence.\u201d That\u2019s not justice. That\u2019s vengeance wearing business casual.<\/p>\n

The Founders understood something we often forget. Freedom is messy. A republic is noisy. Open societies produce arguments, uncomfortable conversations, and occasionally spectacularly bad opinions.<\/p>\n

The alternative isn\u2019t harmony. It\u2019s permission. Permission for whoever happens to hold power to decide which ideas deserve daylight. That bargain has never ended well.<\/p>\n

Conservatives don\u2019t strengthen their case by becoming more efficient censors than progressives. We strengthen it by demonstrating that our commitment to liberty survives even when liberty protects people we profoundly disagree with.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, we\u2019re not defending free speech. We\u2019re simply negotiating whose turn it is to do the censoring. And that\u2019s not conservatism. That\u2019s just tribalism with better branding.<\/p>

Read more Political Disunity Has A Cost<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Image created by George P. Brooks using AI.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the great ironies of American politics is that every movement swears it\u2019s against censorship\u2014right up until it has enough power to do some censoring of its own. It\u2019s almost adorable. Read more To SAVE America \u2014 or not? For years, conservatives rightly criticized Big Tech, universities, corporate America, and legacy media for suppressing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1285,16],"tags":[1750],"class_list":["post-4371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-censorship","category-culture","tag-related-topics-censorship-free-speech"],"yoast_head":"\nThe new censorship isn\u2019t coming from the left\u2014it\u2019s coming from everyone - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4371\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The new censorship isn\u2019t coming from the left\u2014it\u2019s coming from everyone - Interstate Logistics Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the great ironies of American politics is that every movement swears it\u2019s against censorship\u2014right up until it has enough power to do some censoring of its own. 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