The greatest threat to civilization is loss of free speech

by Lorna Salzman

Islamism will defeat us only if we submit to censorship of free speech and the demands of the radical left, guilty liberals and Social Justice Warriors, including those sitting in seats of power in academia. Great Britain is taking the lead on this but American universities are not far beyond. As Jefferson noted, legitimate self-government is made possible only by a fully informed citizenry. This “fully informed” body of information is now being curtailed in the interests of Political Correctness, elevation of individual “feelings” over individual rights, neo-fascist and authoritarian ideologies now manifested on the left, not the right, and pathetically misguided “feminists” in raging rants against all white males, including working class white males who are arguably MORE oppressed by our corrupt inequitable economic system and policies. These loony leftists make no distinction between class or economic status in condemning the “white power structure” and society-wide “racism,” thus tarring the single mother with two jobs, the long-jobless union worker, the homeless and hungry in our cities, the afflicted deindustrialized middle America, including Appalachia, and all the small business men and laborers living hand to mouth.

While the nationalist right wing surges to the front in Europe, which is now free game for terrorists because of the paleo-liberal establishment that is blamed for the refusal of Muslims to assimilate, the left’s recusal from any fact-based dialogue about the threat of Islamism has ceded the moral high ground to the right wing, which can hardly be blamed for taking advantage of the situation. The front line is France but Germany is going to follow, as Germans wake up to the Muslim Trojan horse that Merkel allowed to enter their borders. While there is some variation in the character and proposals of various right wing groups, eventually, in the interest of survival, they will likely unite so as to take control. This may happen on a state by state basis, and after they establish a power base, they will move to their national parliament and then to the EU. The tragedy is that in the meantime there will be more Muslim rampages, stabbings, bombings, death vehicles. A full-fledged campaign of anti-Muslim violence by enraged citizens cannot be ruled out. In the end, it will be the fault of the left, not the right.

In case people are not aware of the widespread restrictions on free speech, often accompanied by murder of journalists and dissidents, take a look at the PEN weekly bulletin on threats to free speech. This is required reading to understand the latitude and frequency of violence being committed by sovereign governments around the world. Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Sudan, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Turkey in the lead, Russia……media  everywhere on the internet and in the press are now feeling the pressure, and journalism is the most dangerous occupation in the world.

Remarkably, none of the US presidential candidates, or Bernie Sanders, has seen fit to address this issue. Human rights groups are now speaking out with their own postings…even Human Rights Watch which was badly tainted by its firing of Gita Seghal who protested the HRW sponsorship of a European tour by a former Guantanamo terrorist now has a weekly briefing, and the PEN weekly briefing on free speech threats doesn’t hold back. I recommend that everyone subscribe to their notice list to get the full flavor of the global clamp-down on free speech. The question is whether this will become more pronounced in this country as the SJW, feminists, paleo-liberals and the loony left spread their totalitarian demands across all of academia and then into our own media (already compromised by refusing to acknowledge Islamic jihad) and communities.

The only bright light is the apparent coherence and integrity of the Sanders supporters, who seem committed to rejecting small marginal reforms and seem to be preparing for a full-fledged rejection of the Democratic Party. The flaccid compromises made by Hillary on school tuition and her patently mendacious switch to opposing the TTP (watch for her devilishly clever way of eventually supporting it) are nada, in the scheme of things.

No opposition to fracking is in sight, much less a full-throated muscular energy policy with stringent federal efficiency standards, end to all energy subsidies and tax breaks, and an escalating carbon tax, including a gasoline tax as fundamental. Obama announced energy efficiency standards for airlines, which contribute about 3% to global warming, but given the uncontrolled expansion of air travel, there is only one thing that could have any effect: raising energy prices so as to curb the increase in air travel. Instead of air travel, maybe we should go back to trans-oceanic ships…not luxury cruise ships, a major ecological disaster, but dormitory ships with cafeterias and no luxuries. My guess is that there are millions of people who can put up with camp-style accommodations (with their own towels and sheets) for the four-day Atlantic crossing…..and have lots of fun doing it.

Sanderistas should now consider, after they fail to redirect the Democratic Party in the required direction of reforming our economic system, defecting en masse from the party and registering as independents. A third party such as the U.S. Green Party is ill advised (I have written about the inevitable collapse of the party extensively) because too many disparate views need to be reconciled or even eliminated, not least the vile anti-Israel campaign of most of the left. Leaving this out of the Democratic Party platform was the only good thing the DNC accomplished. Count on the left to use it as a springboard if there were ever a meeting to discuss a third party. The left and the SJW are poison to any real campaign to challenge the two party system.