Elon Musk Buys Twitter Promising Free Speech

There has been varied and copious reactions to Elon Musk purchasing Twitter. Some have hyperventilated, gone catatonic, feigned insult and virtually any negative panicked reaction one might imagine. While in the media a few thought that Elon Musk purchasing Twitter has potential to level the playing field and allow all sides at least some level of fairness, most of the media have reacted as if the current system was totally fair and needs no adjustment. We may be one of the smallest groups, those who have never had a problem with Twitter or any other net service we use. From our perspective, the entire debate depends on one’s interpretation of the First Amendment, which reads:

            Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So, what speech is permitted by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, as written by the Founding Fathers at the insistence of many of the individual states?

Painting of the Founding Fathers Signing the Constitution

Free speech intends to allow unencumbered exchanging of ideas, politics, cat videos, insults, fawning agreement, viral videos and anything short of threats of harm in any form. We fully expect a period where new limits, and limits are necessary, which guard against anything which crosses with the law. This will eventually lead to a Supreme Court decision and we think we know what the first challenge is to come. Early on there will come a challenge to hate crime laws as an impediment to free speech. The opposing argument will claim that such speech causes mental anguish and other emotional distress. In our opinion, even hate speech is protected if free speech meant the American Nazi Party was permitted a parade and hold speeches in Skokie, Ohio. This specific case explained how complete the concept of free speech was held, unlike today. Numerous Holocaust survivors resided not only in Skokie but along the proposed route the American Nazis intended. These survivors of the most heinous institution in human history, the Nazis and their murder of six million Jews and another six million other people declared deplorable and unproductive, had to witness what for them was an abomination. Free speech is preserved for exactly that speech we find most distasteful provided it remains within legal bounds. We all have to also accept that what is legally acceptable changes with every court challenge. One item the protestations got correct; the fur is about to fly.

Beyond the Cusp

Humanity in the Face of Unbelievable Inhumanity

The war in Ukraine resulting from the Russian invasion has dominated the news and been impressively depressing. When the Ukrainians responded to the Russian invasion, it was as surprising as it was unpredictable. The Russian response used World War II tactics of pulverize before entering cities. Nowhere has the barberry been more evidenced than in Mariupol where virtually, if not every, building has been destroyed. Still, the Ukrainian forces there refuse to surrender the rubble as they consider it Ukrainian sovereign lands. But we wish to present the other unbelievable, as it was unexpected. We refer to the care being provided the refugees streaming out of harms way into a completely foreign environment with fear gripping their every thought.

Mariupol Destruction and Ukrainian Refugees

Poland has led the nations including, but not limited to, Romania, Moldova, Hungary and Slovakia, taking refugees into their own homes caring for them. Numerous aid groups have been mobilized and others formed assisting Ukrainians as they cross the border providing immediate food, water and medical attention. There are even some groups assisting extracting Ukrainians and foreigners trapped in the Ukraine reaching safety often in Poland. The majority of these humanitarian efforts are made up of volunteers from around the world. The voluntary care is an example of humanity at its best. It is so sorry that it takes such catastrophic inhumanity that Russia is inflicting on the Ukrainian nation. May this horror please be resolved with full respect being given to the sovereignty of both nations inflicting no further harm to either.

Beyond the Cusp

Culture Wars and the Social Pendulum

Culture wars and the social pendulum are familiar terms in the Social Sciences, the ‘soft sciences,’ and are useful constructs. Representing the culture wars is the swing of a pendulum with it periodically changing direction with the pendulum always accelerating towards the center point. The direction the pendulum is tracking, either to the right or to the left, is easily determined by following the mainstream media coverage, or lack thereof, of politics and social issues. If those on the far left are screaming about unfair practices, the pendulum is moving rightward, otherwise it is sliding leftward. Culture wars are often depicted (see below) as a tug of war between the following; conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans, and the Left and the Right. This representation of the field politic leaves one very obvious and definitively important reality, the culture appears to have moved ever progressively to the left when viewing history in the long term. Represented below by the smaller blue Liberal Left individual pulling the fulcrum’s oversized tack to the left, often with no opposing effort from the right, is that historical reality. Sorry to those disturbed by this but it is the reality. Technical progress allows for a better and easier life in the advanced industrial nations and also to the rest of the developing world with less obvious changes.

Culture Wars and the Social Pendulum

So, if the entire pendulum is going to always move leftward, why should conservatives and traditionalists even bother to resist and pull the pendulum to the right? Conservatives have a similar responsibility as a parent caring for their children, making sure the society does not run wildly off the rails by slowing that trend allowing all of society to move as one. Conservatives must temper the wilder fantasies of the social left who are always attempting to initiate these fantasies into the society. Another way of viewing this situation is the Leftists provide the push to move society while those from the Right attempt to steer the society such that it does not crush or lose the innate rights granted to sentient beings. These are the rights referred to by the Declaration of Independence the colonists filed with King George of Britain demanding rights granted by the Creator. The numbers and depth of these rights have steadily increased as humanity makes progress and advances technically, socially, scientifically and in interpersonal relations. So, hopefully both sides will continue to make their voices heard and efforts felt while steering society forward without ever reaching that point of contention that violence becomes the only option remaining. We must find the path where all are mostly comfortable thus guiding our way forward with at least a minutia of intelligence.

Beyond the Cusp