IDENTITY LOST

#163

There was a time when a country identified itself by ancestry and common ethnic nationality. Not so for America. If America abandons its political and economic structures, it will lose its identity more thoroughly than a country defined by a common ethnic and cultural background. America’s identity is the institutions of personal liberty, free contracts, jury trials, uncensored news media, regular and free elections, open competition, private property rights, religious freedom, and habeas corpus. The Cato Institute found that most Americans are afraid to reveal their core beliefs while censoring themselves from expressing political views, in some cases out of fear of losing their jobs or missing career opportunities, especially among conservatives. Even centrist liberals believe they must restrict themselves, while only staunch liberals feel safe to voice their opinions. Even being a member of the far-right or far-left does not guarantee safety because purists will turn on anyone who is not radical enough.

“Woke” means being aware and taking a stand against social injustice, but at the same time, the movement aims to destroy people’s identities by melding them into categories. Major corporations are now selling wokeness instead of their products. Pantene used to run commercials about shampoo; now, they show lesbian parents helping a biological boy become a girl. For example, being a boy or a girl becomes subservient to belonging to a specified group. Dove celebrates women’s different body types, and Vaseline portrays itself as fighting for equity in skincare. Oreo cookies have come out to support the gay agenda, and Burger King takes a stance against bovine flatulence from cows as endangering the environment. Disney offers a diversity and inclusion program with affinity groups for minorities, but it denounces white employees for their whiteness. Companies now train employees in what it calls inclusion and diversity. Freedom of conscience is the most important freedom we have, and a free and unbiased news media is essential to our liberty. But the social media giants are censoring more than ever because they have declared war on anything that is not politically correct, opinions that do not fit their worldview. This sterilizing of the news has led to alternative news sources such as BitChute, Gab, Clouthub, Rokfin, Odysee, Lbry, Vimeo, MeWe, Parler, Rumble, and Frank. Frank is a social media platform providing a place for free speech as laid out in the U.S. Constitution. Mike Lindell says that the platform is like a combination of YouTube and Twitter. You don’t get to use the four swear words—the C-word, the N-word, the F-word, or God’s name in vain.

It will be difficult for these alternative news sources to compete with the tech giants’ market power. YouTube estimates that 400 hours of video are uploaded every minute—making it mandatory to use algorithms and human moderation to scrutinize video content. YouTube demonetizes or delists videos regardless of the number of views. RT’s English YouTube channel was issued a strike by the service over alleged Covid-19 disinformation. Some videos on RT’s main English-language channel were made inaccessible for viewers for what YouTube said were violations of its policies on “medical misinformation” and “spam, deceptive practices, and scams.” When YouTube gives a strike, it rarely explains the reason. Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter and take it private, saying he believes the company needs to be “transformed and freed from censorship.” 

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