Episode 4 Show Notes- In Pursuit of Power and Control: Dark Clouds of Censorship Increasing

Episode Description– In this episode, we explore the increasing censorship throughout the United States. From safe spaces to offensiveness, control over ideas is the antithesis to the concept of Freedom of Speech. Prof. Giordano walks the listener through the tactics being employed to censor debate. The most concerning aspect of today’s censorship is how individuals, organizations, corporations, news outlets, and the tech giants are so quick to censor dissenting points-of-view in pursuit of power and control over the populace.

Dark clouds are on the horizon

Over the last decade, we have seen increasing calls to regulate speech, and some have gone so far as to say offensive speech must be criminalized. There are movements abound all designed to silence dissenting opinions and to control debate.

• A 2017 poll conducted by the CATO Institute shows that 71% of Americans feel political correctness has done more to “silence important discussions” and 58% of Americans believe that they cannot say what they believe out of fear of being targeted. Digging deeper in the numbers reveals an interesting observation.
  • 53% of Democrats do not feel the need to self-censor, yet 73% of Republicans and 58% of Independents keep quiet about their political beliefs out of fear of retribution.

 

• In today’s world, we have blurred the lines between hate speech, offensive speech, and simple disagreement.
  • This has become particularly true among the youth where The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education found more than 50% of students said that 2 and 4-year institutions should be allowed to restrict “intolerant opinions.”

 

• According to the Pew Research Center, a staggering 66% of Americans say social media companies should remove “offensive” content from their platforms.

The big problem is that intolerant and offensive speech is in the eye of the beholder. While hate speech is easier to classify, it is allowed to be spoken in the public forums because Freedom of Speech is absolute. The problem with classifying speech

Censorship has been increasing as a minority fringe, and the elite class, have succeeded in imposing their narrow political and moral values of what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and offensive, good policies and bad policies, etc.

Examples

Example- Immigration debate. If someone benignly says they support controlling the border with a wall and the United States cannot accept anyone and everyone, the mob labels you a racist and intolerant of immigrants.

Example- If you pass regulations on abortion and/or take a pro-life position, the mob declares you a misogynist and want to take away women’s access to healthcare.

Example- If you refuse to bake a cake for a religious ceremony because it goes against your own religious beliefs, the mob declares you a bigot and attempts to shut down your business.

Example- If you use the term radical Islam or Islamic extremists when discussing terrorism, you hate Muslims and have Islamophobia.

Whether you agree with those positions is irrelevant. People have a right to take policy positions and to speak up on the issues that concern them.

Why is this occurring

Rather than win in the marketplace of ideas and debate, those that push this censorship realize the only way to control the masses, is to control the message. By shaming different viewpoints, people are less likely to speak up.

Ever since the internet has emerged, we have become more ideological. We seek out news and opinions that validate our opinions and tell us we are right on the issues. We surround ourselves with those who hold similar points-of-view. This creates a bubble where we live in echo chambers that constantly tell us we are right, and the other side is wrong. We begin to demonize the other side.

Then, when someone disagrees with us, we can’t handle. We think to ourselves; I’ve done the research. All of these sources told me my positions are correct and morally superior. At this point, the person cannot engage in debate because they become enraged and emotional.

Federalist 10

James Madison’s Federalist 10 is coming to life. Written 232 years ago, Madison argued that the biggest threat to the Republic was the emergence of Factions- people who join together in an attempt to shape and influence policy. Madison recognized that ultimately, people would become more loyal to factions and ideology, which will lead them to hate, demonize, and begin to resent those that disagree.

Madison writes, “…divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to cooperate for their common good.” (Federalist 10)

When this occurs, we begin to label the other side with negative connotations, and we start to view dissenting points-of-view as evil.

• According to a 2018 Axios poll:
  • 61% of Democrats view Republicans as racist, bigoted, and sexist
  • 54% of Democrats view Republicans as ignorant
  • 21% of Democrats view Republicans as evil
  • 31% of Republicans view Democrats as racist, bigoted, and sexist
  • 49% of Republicans view Democrats as ignorant
  • 23% of Republicans view Democrats as evil

 

• Once this happens, debate, dialogue, and respectful disagreement cannot exist.
  • How do you debate with evil? How do you compromise with evil?
  • How can you negotiate with racists, bigots, and misogynists?

While Madison worried about factions, he felt the remedies are worse. Madison argued that there are only two ways to eliminate factions.

• Radically- Destroy the essential element that gives rise to factions- Liberty
  • He argued this would be worse than the actual disease of factions because liberty is essential to human nature and political life

 

• Incrementally- create a uniformity of interests- essentially by controlling the message and giving everyone the same opinion.
  • Madison understood that this goes against human nature as human beings are all different. We have different wants/needs, desires, and passions. As long as we are free to exercise our liberty, “different opinions will be formed.”
  • Those that are pushing censorship have decided to utilize the incremental method to silence their opposition and make everyone conform to their “moral values.”

This process has been going on for the last several years. However, with the election of Donald Trump, the push to censor viewpoints has accelerated dramatically.

Types of Censorship occurring

There has been a dangerous evolution of censorship, and we are witnessing several different types of censorship occurring.

• It started with colleges throughout the United States moving to create speech codes, and even ban words/phrases they deem offensive, including man up, mankind, coward, thug, soup Nazi, crazy, psycho.
  • Ironically, college campuses used to be the harbingers of free speech. College used to serve as a place of different ideas and opinions where you learn and grow.

 

• It then morphed into a ban on speakers at college campuses whose messages may differ from the mob. Since speech codes weren’t working, they decided to ban influential figures. If you can’t control the message, eliminate it.
  • Condoleeza Rice disinvited from Rutgers (New York Times)
  • Ben Shapiro
  • Ann Coulter
  • John Brennan
  • Richard Dawkins
  • Jason Riley

(Business Insider)

 

• Then in 2017, we began to see a push to remove historical monuments, including people like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
  • This is nothing more than an attempt to sanitize history.
  • Difficult applying 21^st century standards to people living in the 18^th
  • Goes deeper than removing statues. It is a disdain for the founding fathers and the system they created. (Jonathan Turley)

 

• In the mid-2010s, we began to hear announcements from state legislators and state/local pension fund managers that they will divest their pension funds of fossil fuel investments.
  • While they have every right to do this, is it really in the best interests of the pension’s holders?
    • The short answer is no. It was not in their best interests. In fact, in 2017, an independent report was conducted and concluded, “…sector based divestment would adversely affect the New York State Retirement System and result in a significantly increased pension contribution by local governments…Divestment losses would jeopardize critical civic services such as public safety, healthcare, and education.” (Politico/Global Analytic Services, Inc.)
  • Should pension funds be used as a political weapon against a specific industry?

 

• Once pension funds began to divest, an even more disturbing form of censorship began to emerge.
  • Corporations began to take positions on social issues impacting the United States.
    • In 2018, Citigroup announced they would no longer offer loans or store-branded credit cards for any business selling guns to people younger than 21 regardless of what state laws say. Bank of America announced it would no longer issue loans to companies that manufacture what they deem are “military-style rifles” (CBS News)
    • Several Hollywood production companies announced they would no longer do business with Georgia after the elected officials of Georgia passed the Heartbeat Bill. (Hollywood Reporter) Disney has threatened that they may do the same. (Reuters)
    • Dicks Sporting Goods are banning the sale of firearms and Delta ending its discount programs for NRA members. (Vox)
    • Microsoft is suing the administration over the President’s decision to end DACA. (Microsoft)

 

• Corporations should be reinvesting in the communities they serve, and not dictating what the correct moral positions should be. Corporations are not elected by the people, nor are they held accountable to the people.

 

• Also, bad business practices. Why alienate a potential customer base.

 

• In 2017/2018, we began to see the rise of weaponizing boycotts as a political tool to censor political opponents.
  • Groups organized to push for boycotts of those they disagree with politically. These groups include Sleeping Giants, George Soro’s Open Society, Media Matters, and Think Progress.
    • Make no mistake about it; these are highly organized campaigns with a lot of money behind them. These organizations want you to think they are grassroots and organic.

 

• The threats to companies were clear- either stop advertising on particular programs and platforms, or we will harass you on social media in an attempt to hurt your bottom line.
  • One of these groups is the Sleeping Giants with a goal to “persuade” companies to remove ads.
  • Sleeping Giants has over 230,000 followers who attempt to shame and extort companies from advertising on platforms they disagree with.

 

• If you look at the followers, notice how many are so-called journalists and political figures follow this organization, and you will see that Sleeping Giants attacks their competitors. (Twitter)
  • With the journalists and political figures involved, there is clear coordination between the Sleeping Giants, media outlets, and political outlets as they all seem to follow the same talking points on a daily basis.

 

• To date, 820 companies have capitulated to Sleeping Giants. (Wikipedia)

 

• The more companies give in to the mobs, the more the mob will demand.

 

• The goal of groups like Sleeping Giants is apparent- strangle the programs/platforms financially. Eventually, they go out of business, & it destroys the message capable of reaching thousands to millions of people.

 

• Using economic tools to promote censorship is nothing more than extortion. Boycotts hurt average people, and so why not debate the message instead of taking such drastic measures.

 

• Bank of America announced that it would no longer provide lending services to detention centers after threats to the organization. (Twitter/Sleeping Giants)

 

• They are now pressuring Wayfair from providing furniture to the migrant detention facilities because they disagree with the policy.
  • Even workers have begun walkouts in protest.
  • It is unclear if Sleeping Giants organized the employee walkouts, but the pressure they are putting on Wayfair and other companies is undeniable. (New York Times)
  • So I guess migrants don’t deserve beds, blankets, etc.

 

• We have a Republic where we elect officials to make policies on our behalf.
  • While many may not agree with the policies, the remedy is to go out and vote for officials that represent your viewpoints, not to silence the other side by using blackmail or extortion tactics.

 

• If corporations and groups like Sleeping Giants dictate what policies are enforced, what positions to take on issues, and what messages are heard, can we call ourselves a Republic?
  • We have a Republic where we elect officials to make policies on our behalf.
    • While many may not agree with the policies, the remedy is to go out and vote for officials that represent your viewpoints, not to silence a group of people by using blackmail or extortion tactics.

 

• These corporations and groups did not receive a single vote and are accountable to no one.

 

• This is not the way the system is supposed to work.

 

• Which leads use to the most serious censorship currently underway- the Tech Giants.
  • Internet was created as the World Wide Web of ideas and where these ideas can be shared.

 

• The tech companies have an enormous amount of power
  • 90% of web searches are conducted on Google (Business Insider)
  • Facebook has a reach of nearly 2.7 billion people (Facebook)
  • Twitter has a reach of approximately 321 million people per month (Washington Post)

 

• These tech giants determine what you see and what you don’t see.
  • They claim algorithms filter out offensive content, but who develops the algorithms? Google (Play Sound Clip 3)
    • People with biases who feel that they are morally superior.
    • Facebook banned my website from being posted. While I have a page, I cannot post a link to my website because they said my website violates community standards.
    • Nothing even remotely controversial on my website.
    • I have contacted Facebook several times since then to ask what specifically is offensive and/or doesn’t meet community standards. I just get generic messages of thank you for your inquiry.

 

• Tech Giants blocking content at alarming levels is censorship at its simplest and most powerful form (Play Sound Clip 2)
  • Pinterest has blocked pro-life groups, including live action, and call the material pornographic (National Review)
  • Ravelry announces no Trump support allowed on the forum (New York Times)
  • Largest pro-Trump group on Reddit shutdown (New York Times)
  • YouTube demonetized people like Dennis Prager and PragerU, Dave Rubin from the Rubin Report, Alex Jones and Infowars, Steven Crowder, and others. (Washington Examiner)

 

• Google CEO Sundar Pichai
  • Stated, “And so we are bringing that same notion [from Google] and approach to YouTube so that we can rank higher quality stuff better and really prevent borderline content — content which doesn’t exactly violate policies, which need to be removed, but which can still cause harm.” (Grabienews)
  • Project Veritas exposed something that people like me feared for a long time and should concern every American regardless of political ideology.
    • Jen Gennai, Head of Responsible Innovation for Google stated, “The reason we launched our A.I. principles is because people were not putting that line in the sand, that they were not saying what’s fair and what’s equitable, so we’re like, well we are a big company, we’re going to say it.” (Play Sound Clip 1)
      • What does Google consider as fair and equitable? Why are they the arbitrators?

 

• Google determines the news ecosystem and controls how content is promoted, distributed, and displayed on their site. (Play Sound Clip 4)

 

• Using YouTube to promote alternatives to those they disagree with. “So content that is similar to Dave Rubin or Tim Pool, instead of listing Dave Rubin or Tim Pool as people that you might like, what they’re doing is that they’re trying to suggest different, different news outlets, for example, like CNN, or MSNBC, or these left-leaning political outlets.” (Project Veritas)

 

• So what are Google’s intentions and that of other tech giants? (Play Sound Clip 5)
  • There you have it, “preventing the next Trump situation.”
  • This is not me putting words in the Google Executive’s mouth.
  • All quotes and sound clips used are directly from their own mouths.

 

• For years, many warned about Russia meddling in our elections going so far as to say it is the biggest threat to the Republic.
  • Who really has more power to swing an election, Russia or the tech giants?
  • The tech giants can control what millions of people see or don’t see/hear or don’t hear.
  • Tech Giants like Twitter have shadow banned prominent people of one political persuasion. Twitter stated that it was due to a technical glitch. (Politifact)
  • They have enormous power to control messaging.

 

• Big tech represents one of the biggest threats to the Republic as they have injected their personal ideology into their platforms. Using their own words, they believe they are the moral arbitrators of speech and who should or should not be heard.
  • Should big tech decide who the next President of the United States is or should the people decide?

 

• We the people elect officials, and those elected officials are accountable to the people.

 

• Make no mistake about it; it is about power and control.
  • China’s social credit system is coming to the United States, and it is the American tech giants that have served as the impetus for China’s system. (PJ Media)
  • If we continue to allow these companies to have enormous power, how long before big tech rolls out a social credit system here in the United States.

I constantly refer back to the founding fathers because of their vision, their knowledge, and their wisdom was profound.

• Did they do everything right? No
• Did they make mistakes? Yes
• However, they were creating a system in which people would be empowered.
• They were creating a system in which the government would exist to serve the people as opposed to people serving the government.
• They were creating a system that would be extraordinarily unique to history.
• I want to leave you with a quote from the Father of our Constitution and another from one of the most interesting and brilliant founding fathers. One of the greatest thinkers of all time.

 

“For the people to rule wisely, they must be free to think and speak without fear of reprisal.”- James Madison

Leaving the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked what sort of government they had created. His response, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Our republic was not just founded on the idea of consent of the governed, and the system is absolutely dependent on the active and informed involvement of the citizenry.

We, as the citizens of the United States, need to do more. Please share this episode because we must wake up the American populace to what is really going on. We must begin to educate the populace on their roles and responsibilities within this system. We the people are the first line of defense of our Republic, not the government, and we need to push back against those wishing to undo everything we stand for.

I will continue to stay on this subject and call out those who try to limit or censor speech- right or left. Freedom of Speech is precious, and our founders believed that this freedom is absolute. In honor of July 4^th and the brilliance of the founding fathers, next week we will be doing a special on the importance of Freedom of Speech and the Declaration of Independence.

As always, if there is a topic or issue you want me to discuss, email me at podcast@pasreport.com. Also, don’t forget to rate, review, and share this podcast. As our audience continues to grow, we will be able to provide more content to educate people as to what is really going on. I want to thank you for listening and the feedback I have received. Stay safe, and I will be back next week.

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