Trump Supporters Do Not Understand Free Speech by Ms Caitlin Johnstone!
(2025-04-27 at 22:42:50 )

Trump Supporters Do Not Understand Free Speech by Ms Caitlin Johnstone!

Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):

The hypocrisy of Trumpists cheerleading the presidents assaults on free speech makes it clear that they have no idea why free speech ever came to be valued in our society in the first place.

The Trump administration continues to arrest and deport people for criticizing Israels genocidal atrocities in Gaza and the United States empires support for it - and Trumps supporters continue to applaud these abuses. To call this hypocritical after the way these people spent years rending their garments about the erosion of the First Amendment would be a massive understatement.

The hypocrisy of Trumpists cheerleading the presidents assaults on free speech makes it clear that they have no idea why free speech ever came to be valued in our society in the first place. They think freedom of speech is so esteemed because it feels nice to be able to say whatever you want, and it upsets their feelings when people tell them they should not say "retard" or make unkind remarks about trans people - which people are allowed to do under the Trump administration.

They seriously think it is all about them and their feelings. They have never put any more thought or research into it than that.

And from this point of view it makes perfect sense for them to say "It is fine to deport that person for criticizing Israel, because they are not a citizen. They do not have free speech rights." They think free speech is just a pleasant perk that lets United States citizens enjoy the nice feelings of being able to say whatever they want; the people having their green cards and student visas revoked for inconvenient speech do not have citizenship, so they do not get to feel the nice feelings.

But it has nothing to do with anyones feelings. The first and foremost reason free speech is important is because it puts a check on the abuses of the powerful. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is not there to ensure US citizens get to feel nice feelings, it is there to restrict the governments right to obstruct the free flow of information, thereby enabling the citizenry to effectively organize any necessary opposition to the status quo. At least in theory.

This is why the first thing any tyrant does after consolidating power is always to restrict the flow of information. It is not to make the public feel bad feelings, it is to prevent anyone from sharing information about their abuses to foment discontent and organize mass resistance.

Free speech, if sufficiently realized, could solve all our problems. If information was really flowing freely without being constantly manipulated and obstructed by the rich and powerful, our rulers would no longer be able to manufacture consent for our abusive status quo, because everyone would be aware of how bad things are and how much better they could be.

It is only because the rich and powerful are able to do things like buy up media companies, rig algorithms, fund think tanks, decide what films get made, decide who gets famous and who remains marginalized, silence and deport political dissidents, and restrict access to information by deeming it "classified" that our abusive political norms are able to be maintained. If information was truly democratized and freely flowing, nobody would tolerate being impoverished, sickened and oppressed for the benefit of a few oligarchs and empire managers.

The United States government is not deporting critics of Israel because it wants them to feel bad feelings, it is deporting them because it does not want Americans to hear legitimate criticisms of United States foreign policy.

They are not merely violating the rights of the speaker by restricting the flow of this information, they are violating the rights of anyone else who would hear it.

They are doing this to help ensure public consent for a genocidal status quo that a populace with an informed mind and an informed conscience would never consent to!!

"This Ms Caitlin Johnstone article, its pictures, and its links are here:"

Thanks for reading!!

Everyone has my unconditional permission to republish or use any part of this work (or anything else I have written) in any way they like free of charge.

My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal, purchasing some of my "sweet merchandise", buying my new book "Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone", or my previous book "Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers". The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for "my website", which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I am trying to do with this platform, "click here".

Ah, the Buddha Ms Caitlin speaks the truth!!! - Cousin Lucky