When one talks of right and left, Liberty is not even found on the scale.  Communism is on the Left end of socialism and Fascism is on the Right end of socialism — both are Authoritarianism which reside at the Bottom, whereas Liberty resides at the Top. 

I make the distinction between America, Americans, and the US government — they are not all one and the same.  The US government has become a statist, authoritarian, oligarchy, indeed.  America is still a free nation of free sovereign people founded upon the inherent natural born rights of humankind — this hasn't changed.  Americans are a product of their education, but not just what they are taught but what they learn in the field.  Contrary to popular belief, a community is not kept safe by its regulators but by the very 'code' of the people themselves who are self-governing.  That is the ideal.

Corporatism, the merging of corporations and the government, is also known as fascism, and the social media giants now serve as the propaganda arm of the government.  Take a deeper look and it will be discovered that Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter all have multi-billion dollar contracts with the government, particularly the CIA which own and control large chunks of each.

Skepticism is a good thing.  Being able to express that doubt is liberty.

The 'princes' today are the corporate giants regulating speech (i.e. surveillance of public discourse) which claim the right to censor anyone, yet there are tons of laws on the books that prevent businesses from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, and religion — how is it that these monopolies can discriminate against conversations about sex, race, and religion? To have an opinion about any of these topics that does not fit the leftist party line is considered 'hateful' which seems to me to be a fairly hateful assumption.

The search for truth requires the telling of the truth.

No comment.  ;-)

How about the Anti-fa mobs closing down rallies and speeches — and this is 'anti' fascist?  How about all the book burning going on at Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter?  This IS fascism!

Ron, what is 'Matstsah'?

Censorship and propaganda have been ongoing since the advent of the radio.  Now that the practice is not so easily hidden from the masses, the media giants claim it is a feature for keeping the 'community' safe.  How they define the 'community' does not seem to include anyone expressing viewpoints that are not 'politically correct' with authoritarianism.  Why isn't it enough for readers to down vote a comment and make a reply rather than demand censorship?

"[I]t shall be the duty of legislators and magistrates... to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them..."  This is not a law but an appeal.  Are legislators to 'cherish' the interest of literature/science in their private capacity or push for legislation that would promote and fund these interests? Adams censored the press during his presidency as editorials were quite unkind to him.  He saw it as sedition to a fledgling government, and who knows how right (or wrong) he may have been, but it appears to be a common tendency from the beginning...

Very well said.  Is there any hope for the adults if they were not well principled when children?  For me, my 'awakening' has not been just a rite of passage but the very purpose of living.  Isn't everyone on this journey in some form?  Some wake up sooner than others, some go a long time in Pavlovian servitude to their programmed responses.  Why do some question and some not?  When each of us hold the key to our own liberation, how to get someone to find it?

It just happened to me, too, and the message wasn't that long, but I did walk away for about 5 minutes.

Indeed.  Where is the defense of the voices purged from the public square for expressing the 'wrong' opinions?

Unless you honestly don't know.  ;-)

The facts are used to determine the truth.

Not anymore... the go-to defense for any lying politician is "I don't recall."  The world is full of successful liars!  The bad memory resides with those that believe them.

Hence, propaganda.  To con people out of their freedom, falsify the 'truth' and dictate rules for 'security.'  If people don't know who they are, they will follow the others rather than lead themselves.

The seeking of wisdom requires the discernment of truth, starting first with what I tell myself — am I speaking truthfully?  I do continue to discover falsehoods I have held as sacrosanct — does that really end for those seeking wisdom?  Do the wise think they are wise?  ;-)

I do not believe the truth brings condemnation, it simply is what it is.  I suppose in context, falling down is condemnation of one who disobeys gravity, but that is simply the natural law.  If there is a judgement at all it is to be within oneself, and yes, without an atonement and change of heart/mind/behavior, the truth still being ignored, 'consequences' cannot be avoided.

The "great measure of absolution" depends on the degree of falsehood one clings to, the truth being that which dispels and releases the hold.  But there is no absolution from the truth or the consequences of letting go of lies.  A great measure of responsibility comes with bringing forth the truth.

I thought the truth sets one free? ;-)

I get it.  The journalist does not intend to tell lies, but publishing inaccuracies 'truthfully' is even worse.

Absolutely! ;-)

True! A lie has no power without someone to believe it. ;-)