I don’t often get political on this blog. There are plenty of websites one can visit for a daily dose of rage and disappointment; I even e-mail pertinent prepper news (political or otherwise) on a daily basis if you are so inclined to keep up with pressing issues at home and around the world, but here – I usually keep things neutral.
However – the recent debacle concerning this “alt-right” label and how big tech companies are “dealing” with it forces me to speak out, despite my misgivings towards politicizing an otherwise apolitical survival, preparedness, and gear blog.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that the President-Elect is Donald Trump (whether you like it or not). This as the result of a long and divisive campaign (on both sides) that has resulted in a fractured society. Everyone is blaming everyone else, and when it comes to the internet, it’s well known that big tech firms lean left. This new reality has resulted in progressively more Orwellian measures to be enacted, from Twitter’s “Morality Council” to Facebook and Google discussing the removal of “fake news” from their networks. It’s no secret that many websites pretend to be news organisations to garner trust from people whilst spewing nonsense, but at the end of the day, censorship affects us all.
We all have a right to say what we feel. Acting on our beliefs may be criminal, but holding any beliefs we want should always be protected. Twitter recently banned a bunch of people without clear and just cause. No explanation was given beyond the standard, “They are meanies,” and thus we are forced to deduce that they are targeting people for political beliefs – not actions. This is a grave threat to everyone of us. You may not agree with liberals and they certainly won’t agree with you, but our ability to disagree is what makes our countries democratic. I do not want a liberal country, I do not want a conservative country. I want a country where our elected leaders take our opinions under advisement and lead according to our laws (constitutional or otherwise).
In my own country, I would be considered a right-wing libertarian. In the States I would be considered.. I don’t even know what at this point. And in Canada, I would be thought of as needlessly abrasive as well as arrogant.
So here we are. At the end of the day, we are just people. Throughout these troubled times we need to remember that. I despise many of the bigots who are part of the so called “alt-right” just as much as I despise this BLM “special snowflake” movement. But regardless of my personal feelings, we have to accept that we, as a community, are already against the wall. We are mocked and derided by the media as conspiracy theorists (at best) and treated with apprehension and outright hostility at worst. We cannot respond to this new threat of censorship with hate and instead must rise above those pushing for censorship whilst making plans for our own voices and sources of information to be heard.
This is the first time I make a political’ish post on More Than Just Surviving, and in a perfect world it would be the last time, but I cannot in good conscience stand by as individuals (as despicable as they may or may not be) get blacklisted and removed from the most common communication mediums we have, simply for having beliefs that go against the norm.
A few months ago, Elise and I took SurvivalPulse.com from a public facing website to a completely private platform (feel free to sign-up here). We can all see the writing on the wall and consequently I would urge you: be a visible force on social media so that we cannot be so easily dismissed as fringe lunatics as the mainstream so often portrays us.
Ultimately, as Elise already explained, there’s only one way to easily combat the censorship, and that’s by not allowing these bans and suspensions prevent you from getting news from sources the mainstream deems “unfavourable.”
Do subscribe to your favourite blogs and news sources by email. They can’t get to us there.
From PrepperWebsite, to any or all of the top 50 survival sites you follow, to this very blog – if you want to keep hearing from us, the only way to guarantee that is by subscribing directly by email and not simply through social media.
It’s easy to pervert and distort what we do here. It would be trivial for us to be blocked from Twitter or Facebook for being deemed alt-right. I scribble about knives as an aficionado and many of you enjoy my reviews, but from a non-knife person’s perspective, my hobby is often seen as threatening. Knives are sharp and can kill people after all.
Sometimes I joke when I review knives like the Spyderco Bug and discuss its tactical potential, and whilst you, my readers, will get the joke – would an urbanite who lives in a bubble in the Valley? Doubt it.
At the end of the day, we are being marginalised under the guise of political correctness. Racism is still an issue, you only have to look at certain comment sections in certain blogs in our own community to see how deeply hatred goes, but ultimately, everyone has the right to their opinion: even Hillary (I know, I know).
Troubled times everyone. And it seems they will get much worse before they get better. Please be safe and remember: your neighbour is not your enemy, even if he thinks you are his.
Very well said. Growing up in a rural community I experienced the dichotomy between ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ dwellers while living in DC. However I hardly saw the level of divisiveness perpetuated by this most recent election. There was a genuine openness and acceptance of diverse opinion. Maybe not always understanding (shooting squirrels in Alexandria is far from acceptable) but no ill will stemmed from that diversity.
Our 1st Amendment guarantees that right of speech and expression. Silencing the ideas of others who share differing views does not reflect a healthy society. However this right is a double edged sword. The freedom of speach must must coexhiste with the willingness to listen. More so it does not give the freedom to be bigoted or hateful to our fellow (wo)man.
To address your comments specifically Thomas, censorship is a fine line to walk. While at a very basic level I disaprove of the rhetoric given by certain individuals claiming to be the ‘alt-right.’ It is their right and a freedom that should be protected. But equally it is important to note that the 1st Amendment does not protect the right to hateful devisive speech. From anyone. Now in a perfect world I would like to believe the citizenry would scrutinize the speech of those using them for their own gain however that is often not the case. And I won’t claim to have the answer to who should carry the responsibility to determine what qualifies as hate speech but it’s a good discussion to have.
In the end I feel that by doubling down and staying in our bubble will only serve to further divide society. We aught to search for the similarities in one another and equally value our differences. In the end we’re all human and I refuse to believe there is more that separates us than brings us together.
I agree with a lot of what you say Preston, when it comes to hate speech, I think its important to draw a distinction. I can say I dislike apples (it is my right after all) but attacking people who do like apples is a different story altogether.
Ideology is abstract in nature, this idea that we as a society can self-regulate to create the “right” ideology is silly, in my experience if you banish something it only becomes stronger due to the niche appeal of scarcity. We (as a society) definitely need to talk more.
As a person who considers themselves a social liberal and an economic ignoramus, I would like to jump up and say that I have seen nothing objectionable in your blog. Then again, as I grew up a country girl, I’ve spent time explaining to people from the “city” who don’t understand anything about how hunting season is a part of wildlife management and defending the thought that Bambi is good eating. (shrug) I think there’s an enormous amount of overlap that is getting unsaid and ignored, and that makes me extremely sad. Free speech is necessary. The angry dismissal of those who disagree is not. I know that I am lucky enough to live in a place that is not violent, and I appreciate that. However, the more we draw behind our own barriers, the less likely my place and others will remain so.
What is the solution? I don’t know. But I would urge you and others to not give up on our fellow man. S/he is a confounding critter and will inevitably do terrible things to one another, but only hope and persistence in understanding and bridging those gaps will lead to better things. At least, that’s the way I choose to look at it. Your mileage may vary.
Thanks for sharing that Sarah, I really appreciate the support from all our readers. As someone who is European but spent considerable amount of time in North America, I find myself in an odd situation. On one hand I like “socialised” medicine due to my love of the NHS (being a Brit after all, I grew up with this) and on the other I fully support 2A rights and freedom of speech to the ninth degree (limits are just a nice word for censorship).
I certainly won’t give up on my fellow man, if nothing else- this blog has showed me that many of us feel this way and its a reassuring sentiment.
There have always been bitter political disputes in this country.
However, take a deep breath because I am going to relate a few things.
1. Before radio, television and the internet, the only way you knew about a murder/robbery/rape was if you read the local newspaper. Now with modern technology, you can agonize about a traffic stop 3000 miles away, a demonstration by 100 LAUSD delinquent pupils our of 100,000s who did not walk out of school, or a murder in Chicago. There are 330,000,000 people in this country.
2. Calvin Colldge knocked off work at 5 pm and ate dinner with his family. YOU, the American public, insist that a President fly to every disaster (when he could watch on tv), have daily press conferences with pre-approved questions, have a sound bite for every traffic stop in the whole dam- country.
3. The internet bombards people with useless information, rumors and conspiracies. Why do you seek it out.
4. I have not listened to a televised Presidential “interview”, “press conference”, “debate” (which are not debates), US television news networks in years. None of it. I watch the news from Japan, Germany, and France (in French) and a Business Report.
5. I tell people that I will not listen to the bs of accusing this candidate or the other of being dishonest. In that regard, I am 70 years old. No one gets to this age without having medical problems -not Superwoman and not Superman! They all lie.
6. You would be better off exercising that watching or listening to the news.
Aye, we have become a far more dramatic society with the advances we have in communication. I find it interesting that our respective societies have become safer and safer and yet public sentiment when polled believes that crime is rising.
A side effect of being blasted with over dramatised news non stop I guess?
Thanks Thomas for great article.
Cheers Wayne!
As I learned in anatomy class, long ago, “If there is a medial, there’s a lateral. If there is a minimus, there’s a maximus.” Etc., etc.
So if there is an ‘alt-right’, where is the uprising against the ‘alt-left’? (I’m thinking maybe Huffington Post, New York/LA Times, etc.) But we don’t hear of a label for those; only the evil ‘alt-right’. It’s identity politics, the same old garbage that we’ve been slogging through for the last 8+ years. Identify, and marginalize. Or, identify, and support for their rights as victims.
There still seems to be a lot of fear on both sides. Fear and vigilance.
Aye, this “tribalism” thats coursing through our national discourse can’t lead to good things if left unchecked. I sometimes wonder what happened to respectful communication between adverse parties.