Paula LaBrot is a dear friend of mine whose column, “All Things Connected,” I’ve enjoyed reading over the past few years. I have a few thoughts re: the enormously complex issue of free speech in our present-day society. (See “Decentralization…On to Web 3.0!”, January 22, 2021)
In a Utopian world, everyone would be highly educated with endless curiosity, ability and desire to interface with many different peoples to better form world views and sense of self. The sad reality is quite different. We’ve become a tribal society seriously lacking in intellectual rigor and ability to even understand the implications.
Despite a litany of excuses from 70 million Trump voters [as to] why a seditious psychopath was a good choice for a President, the unfettered, unfiltered morass of social media molded a conspiracy world of hateful lies and denial of common sense. We should be able to have a good laugh at the wacky, militarized QAnon crowd, or the unmasked “Camp Auschwitz” brainiac with his holocaust deniers at the Capitol, but way too many lemmings jumped on board this dangerous train without considering the ramifications.
Just like yelling fire in a theater is problematic, this country’s ability to assimilate and accurately process critical information is terribly compromised. A twitter landscape without Trump is better, even if free speech takes a hit. Sad but true. This is an issue that requires us all to keep up the pressure for lasting change. Our grandkids will be the victims of complacency.
—Greg Hilfman
