FIGHTING The Culture War Against Authoritarianism

Bill Collier- Angry mobs and talking heads inspired by clickbait rage content demand absolute fidelity to their party line on pain of banishment. That’s not a partisan problem and it is a reflection of a deeper battle within the culture against any and all forms of authoritarianism.

Authoritarianism is the enforcement of strict obedience to authorities, often with a loss of personal freedom, and often at the expense of the victims themselves. This expense is exacted through taxes, regulations, exploitation, and consumer fraud through the monopolization of the economy by a coterie of the top 100 corporations.

The ability of people in authority to show tolerance for and deference to the citizen in their opinion or interests is being eroded. Defy the “conservatoria”, the galaxy of leading conservative influencers and thought leaders, and you will get ramrodded into oblivion for your lack of purity. Likewise on the left, whether or not your opposition comes from the right, the left, or the middle.

This cultural devolution has now seeped into the masses, well, especially those keyboard warriors who occupy every space online. Often, any criticism of their side, or any of their heroes, will earn instant negative reactions that are usually angry outbursts that seem disconnected from what you have actually presented.

The average netizen who is ready to pounce rarely goes beyond a headline and a shallow, knee-jerk reaction. What is more, they often speak in the most intolerance language. We would provide examples, but most everyone knows of examples or has experienced these reactions.

The now abandoned saying about freedom used to read: I may not agree with what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it. Now we might worry about divisive language, hate speech, extremism, misinformation, and fake news and think, “there oughtta be a law!”

Is the next exit some form of dictatorship in the shape of a “hive minded” two-party duopoly and corporate monopolies all dancing to the same drums whose tune is called by the same people?

This is a cultural problem, not a political problem. We do not impart logic, tolerance, civil discourse, love of freedom, or any of these virtues. Instead we fight a winner-takes-all battle without mercy until all signs of opposition are gone.

A society bounded by the four core ideals of our spiritual constitution as a new and free civilization is capable of handling divisive language, hate speech, extremism, misinformation, and fake news without resorting to dictating and controlling speech problems reducing individual freedom.

These core ideals need a balanced application and our understanding of them cannot be separated from the historic moral and ethical orthodoxy of a Judeo-Christian worldview. We have Unity in diversity, Popular sovereignty, Democratic equality, and Rule of law.

Within belaboring this, let’s stipulate that what we have in mind for each is this:

Unity in diversity means a free and pluralistic society of equals before God and our fellow humans, bounded by the shared values and a shared identity based on those values so that most decisions which effect most people are made through freewill participation and local civic participation.

Popular sovereignty is the spiritual sovereignty of each person actualized mostly through freewill participation and through an accountability of those who hold public office and any public trust to those they serve and profit from as well as the right and ability to exercise and preserve our own concept and convictions about culture and society with people we freely associate with.

Democratic equality represents the true and perfect democracy of free exchange through mutual profit (the free market bounded by justice and fairness is the only true democracy) and an equitable meritocracy that ensures equality of opportunity and treatment for all, for the benefit of each person and society at large.

Rule of law is the shared consensus as to the truth and standards of righteousness and justice which comport with the laws of the universe wherein the law is made by all, consented to by all, beneficial to all, and equally, fairly, and redemptively applied to all.

When we explore these ideals from their Judeo-Christian roots, when we apply them at the level of interpersonal relationships instead of mere politics, and when how we view and apply each harmonizes with all the the others, we form the basis of a cultural shift away from the top-down, centralized systems of influence and control. These systems lord it over us and also infect us with the same spirit of intolerance and imposition by manipulation, legerdemain, and even force.

We ourselves are learning from the people and corporate/government entities that are lording it over us to despise and seek to punish all those who do not agree with us. We are the problem!

But if we are the problem, perhaps we are the cure. If we examine these core ideals for a “commomwealth of freedom” built on the voluntary pursuit of civic and moral virtue, liberty in our persons and free associations, and both ideational and material independence, we can craft a cultural shift away from the petty tyrants and toward a free, prosperous, and pluralistic society of equals.