All posts tagged Freedom

My attention span, sadly, is pretty short, so when I read an entire long article, that says a lot. I read all of this one by Glenn Greenwald:

The Neoliberal War on Dissent in the West

Those who most flamboyantly proclaim that they are fighting fascists continue to embrace and wield the defining weapons of despotism.

Please read the whole thing, but a key quote (in my opinion):

But when these weapons are wielded by Western governments, the precise opposite framework is imposed: describing them as despotic is no longer obligatory but virtually prohibited. That tyranny exists only in Western adversaries but never in the West itself is treated as a permanent axiom of international affairs, as if Western democracies are divinely shielded from the temptations of genuine repression. Indeed, to suggest that a Western democracy has descended to the same level of authoritarian repression as the West’s official enemies is to assert a proposition deemed intrinsically absurd or even vaguely treasonous.

The implicit guarantor of this comforting framework is democracy. Western countries, according to this mythology, can never be as repressive as their enemies because Western governments are at least elected democratically. This assurance, superficially appealing though it may be, completely collapses with the slightest critical scrutiny.

To quote Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

P.S. I don’t alway agree with Glenn, but he is a committed friend of truth and freedom. Please consider subscribing to him on Substack.

What will you do to support truth and freedom, especially of those whose views you find loathsome? Remember, the true test of our character is not how we treat our friends, it is how we treat our enemies.