Things started out slowly. They moved faster under Obama. Now, with Antifa, Black Lives Matter and the Cancel Culture, everyone needs to be careful about their thoughts, lest those thoughts leave their mouths. The results can be devastating - ostracism by friends and family, being "unfriended" - and not just on Facebook, and the loss of one's job and career. Unfortunately, one's past words, if they come to light, can also have ruinous consequences, as there is no tolerance for an error in thinking. Conservatives are most at risk, but so are classical liberals (if any still exist), and even leftists may face the wrath of those who do not think they are left-wing enough.
Bari Weiss was an Op-Ed editor at the New York Times from 2017 to 2020. She just resigned. In her resignation letter, Weiss said: "I was hired with the goal of bringing in voices that would not otherwise appear in your pages...But the lessons that ought to have followed the election (when no one at the Times could conceive of Trump winning) - lessons about the importance of understanding other Americans, the necessity of resisting tribalism, and the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to a democratic society - have not been learned. Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at this paper: that truth isn't a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else."
Weiss: "My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying...they have called me a Nazi and a racist...about how I'm writing about the Jews again...intellectual curiosity - let alone risk taking - is now a liability at the Times. Why edit something challenging to our readers - when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th Op-Ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world? And so self-censorship has become the norm." I would simply tell Ms. Weiss - welcome to the party, I've been there for a while. Weiss ended her letter with a quote from the paper's founder, Adolph Ochs, whose goal was "to make the columns of the New York Times a forum for the consideration of all questions of public importance, and to that end to invite intelligent discussion from all shades of opinion." But that was said in 1896. Look how advanced we have become.
Andrew Sullivan was a writer at New York Magazine, which is owned by Vox Media. Speaking of his firing, he said "they (the powers that be) seem to believe, and this is increasingly the orthodoxy in mainstream media, that any writer not actively committed to critical theory in questions of race, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity is actively, physically harming co-workers merely by existing in the same virtual space." The fact that Sullivan is openly gay and adheres to many of the liberal/left talking points, did not save him from the Cultural Revolution. Perhaps a little time in a re-education camp will help Sullivan and Weiss.
The National Museum for African American History and Culture (one of the Smithsonian museums) posted a chart on its "Talking About Race" link on its website, called "The Aspects and Assumptions of Whiteness in the United States." The chart told us some of the traits of "white culture," including: hard work, self-reliance, delayed gratification, rugged individualism, the nuclear family, reliance on the scientific method, politeness, being on time and planning for the future. So, are these traits bad because they are part of white culture, or is white culture bad because they have these traits? I feel confident in saying that some white people are going to need re-education.
Meanwhile, at George Washington University (why hasn't that name been changed yet) they are pushing their students to read a book by San Francisco University Professor Robert Smith, called "Conservatism and Racism, and Why in America They Are The Same." "Conservatism as a philosophy and ideology - is and always has been hostile to the aspirations of Africans in America, incompatible with the struggle for freedom and equality." Africans in America? I am curious as to how many blacks here think of themselves as "Africans in America." Those blacks who just think of themselves as "Americans" may need some re-education. Besides, if memory serves, it is the Democratic Party that has a long history of racism and affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan.
On the bright side, the re-education camps in California are not at some distant locale. Rather, the public schools were deemed the perfect place to teach kids the three "R's" - racism, racism and racism. California law requires an "Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum." As described on Ed Source, the original draft "critically grapples with the various power structures and forms of oppression, including but not limited to white supremacy, race and racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, Islamophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, that continue to impact the social, emotional, cultural, economic and political experiences of Native People/s and people of color." No need to include anti-Semitism, as Jews will clearly need to be re-educated. After all, many support Israel. And many have those "white culture" traits.
A former editor at Wikipedia reports that the website has a history of "non-neutral editing" and "a history of adding negative content to the articles of conservatives." Conservative TV and radio host and author, Mark Levin, has been a target for years according to the former editor. Take down favorable comments and put up negative ones. Wikipedia - just part of the mainstream media educating the rest of us? Reminds me of YouTube (owned by Google/Alphabet) refusing easy access to certain Prager University videos because, they are not consistent with the sites standards. In other words, the videos express conservative messages.
Prager U actually sued YouTube to get access, but lost, as the First Amendment does not apply to private businesses. But a writer at Slate, on the right side of the Cultural Revolution, explained: "The First Amendment does not force platforms to host Dennis Prager's hateful claptrap." The writer also told us that Prager promotes "exclusively conservative, often fringe views." Now that is a good reminder for many of us - only "exclusively left-wing, fringe claptrap views" will be acceptable in the Cultural Revolution, not comments like Prager's "hateful gibberish."
Over the years, most of us have likely seen numerous ads on TV by The Ad Council. The most recent one I saw was this: "ALL LIVES CAN'T MATTER, UNTIL BLACK LIVES MATTER." "Learn. Act. Donate." By all means donate to Black Lives Matter. But if you don't support Black Lives Matter, remember that the Cultural Revolution is here, and will be coming for you.
I have been told that none of this is important. Or, that it will all go away, or get better, if Joe Biden beats Trump. In a few short months we may get to see how the Cultural Revolution fares under Biden leadership.
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