I recently backed a documentary film project “Silenced: Our War on Free Speech” through a pledge on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform. The founder of the project is Mike Cernovich, an author and free speech activist whose work I have been reading and following on social media for nearly five years. He was inspired to create the film after witnessing the aggressive intolerance for dissenting viewpoints by extreme ideologues that seek to censor and personally destroy their opponents.
The totalitarian mindset of self-described “Social Justice Warriors” (SJWs) is a disturbing new trend in our society. Their impulse is to silence free speech rather than engage with those they disagree with. This destructive mentality has been exemplified in the unrest on American university campuses where demands have been made for “safe spaces” where ambiguously labeled “hate speech” (not to mention journalists) are forbidden. The Black Lives Matter mob actions, an element of the university unrest, are another troubling example of the SJW mindset which makes racial animosity towards whites their explicit message.
The coordinated intimidation actions by Black Lives Matter, MoveOn.org and Bernie Sanders supporting leftists, which led to the cancellation of the Donald Trump rally in Chicago last weekend, is just the latest example of how free speech is being silenced by deeply intolerant people in coordination with radical political groups.
Unfortunately the Mass Media, including outlets such as CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, The New York Times, National Review and many, many others, simply can’t be trusted to present an accurate picture of reality. In the case of the cancelled Trump rally in Chicago, the major news outlets universally heaped scorn on Trump for causing the protests through his “violent rhetoric”, while ignoring the well-prepared and coordinated rent-a-mob that boasted of it’s success in cancelling the event. Impromptu protests don’t feature people with identical, professionally-printed signs and shirts with custom graphic art. It has been left to citizen journalists to report the real facts on the ground, as was done in Chicago on Saturday.
Whether you supports Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, or any other candidate, you know that our society cannot function when certain groups seek to intimidate and shut up their fellow citizens. The production of the Silenced documentary is a brave attempt to start a conversation about the rampant disregard of our First Amendment right to freedom of speech under the U.S. Constitution. I have made my pledge and I urge you to consider doing so as well, the fundraising campaign ends in just over 24 hours. Back Silenced on Kickstarter here.
