"The science is settled."  "There is no debate on this."  "This is a violation of our values."  Banned from social media for offending someone, "violating community standards."  All this jargon is to shut people down, publicly humiliate opposing ideas and facts, virtue signal at every turn while having no virtue in practice. 

Let bad arguments be made, and allow good arguments to respond.  Let reason work it out.  Either there is a desire to resolve a problem or to force a solution.  The truth rules, better to face facts than make excuses.

That's not a bug, it is a feature of censorship.  It doesn't change the fact that the emperor is still wearing no clothes.  The programming does not work for everyone, and people can awaken (and do) and are able to let go of obvious falsehood and become liberated from the bondage of lies.  It takes constant effort to keep a lie alive, it takes only a second to realize it.

So, to produce is economics, and to steal is politics.  Got it. ;-)

There's a big difference between academic freedom and 'education.'  The public school indoctrination programs have been extended to the university and even into corporate America that hires these graduates.  The PC culture and regulation of thought and speech is rampant in corporations today, particularly those that do not produce any food or durable goods.  Propaganda is big business!!  And a very easy business to skim money from multi-billion dollar campaigns.  The media companies can charge whatever the market will bear, far above the cost of doing business.  It is a racket within a racket within a racket.  The average Joe has no concept of how much their 'education' has been to keep them in their place.

Bad news sells.  Government requires conflict to justify their existence — no conflict, no need for them.  As peace is acquired, more 'trouble' is needed to keep the government in business — make more laws prohibiting what people already do and issue permits to do the same thing.  Thus the victim class to be used as a bludgeon against the free and responsible, to vote away the power and property of their neighbors, in the process enriching the political class at the expense of the common man/woman.

No comment... ;-)

Burned books cannot be read.  Just because you are reading this does not mean that speech isn't banned — banned speech is not heard, you do not know what has been censored.  In the take-over of the world, controlling thought (i.e. the narrative) is integral.  This battle for the control of our labors has been incessant — conditioning our minds for 'service' and 'sacrifice.'  It's the oldest racket in the book, 21st century style.  The pursuit of happiness is but selfishness, and liberty the road to vice and ruin. 

The “European tradition” which “favors dignity over liberty and civility over freedom” regulates “well-ordered spaces for safety and civility.”  Rather than Americans adopting such authoritarianism, how about Europe and the rest of the world start valuing Liberty in their own countries.  It is America that has been a beacon of liberty around the world, it is up to the people in their own countries to declare their own rights and take a stand for themselves.  THEN you will see the oppressor right to your face, Waffler.

Without switching topics, Robert, the quote is accurate.  But I will agree with you that the US has become a 2-party nationalist socialist democracy — I need not remind you the German acronym for that...  Since the days of FDR fascism has been instituted by removing the restraints of the government and placing them upon the People.  From fiat currency, to militaristic expansion, federal regulation of the States' means of production, the commercialization of private enterprise, subjecting the common man to the interstate commerce clause, government subsidy of industry, and on and on — all depend on the taxing the People.  Every plank of the communist manifesto was introduced and implemented by FDR and all the socialists that followed, subverting the constitutional republic.  Robert, the central banks are pillars of socialism, you can't have one without the other.  Socialism is the Monopoly game of the globe's wealthiest and most powerful.  US politicians are all millionaires — have you ever taken a deep dive into how they make this money doing nothing?  Socialism is VERY profitable for those with government contracts, which typically overpays for everything.

The screaming socialist-leftist Democrats are the irony, as 'liberals' who do not wish liberty but to regulate others' power (i.e. money, speech, labors, property, children, philosophy, ad infinitum).  "White people this, and white people that..."  The day soon approaches when racism against whites will be recognized for what it is.  Such obvious extremism is probably what you wish to separate yourself from.  I can't figure out if you are triggered by 'leftist' or 'socialist'  but both have embraced hypocrisy by saying one thing and doing the opposite.

I AM taking responsibility for my life, I don't blame others for the quality and condition of my life, I am responsible.  And if there is a cause for which I am willing to fight, I begin by taking responsibility for the problem. 

Robert, I know you to be a fighter, especially with regards to homosexual issues, which is a 'classic' liberal.  But the gay rights movement is more about demanding some form of benefit from the state as a 'right.'  So in that vain, the right to consensual sex has been co-opted by the 'left' to push for more government control, regulation, and entitlements.  The 'left' is notorious for claiming sexism and racism whenever one opposes their leftist policies in classic 'revolutionary' fashion.   On the merits of people's actions and ideas, there is no real debate, just accusations to demean the opposition.  No talk of constitutionality, how to pay, whether the accusations/theories are true, no investigation into the hidden sources of these parroted agendas — yes, parroted, over and over from multiple leftists, all apparently getting the same talking points.  This is the Left.  

Robert, help me out, what are you taking responsibility for?  What will be the means for the end?  Do you consider yourself to have any 'rights' to government programs?  Do you require anything from me or society?  Cheers.

;-)  Where to begin?!

For the most part, all the talk of politicians and all their legislation is designed to condition us to accept their lies. 

Americans are waking up to 'fake news' which has been fake for a long time, but only now is the facade starting to fall. 

Next will be the realization of the 'fake authority' of government officials of all stripes, making arbitrary rules for others to follow with criminal penalties.  'Fake laws' that do not apply to the common man are 'enforced' daily.  Of course there's also 'fake medicine' that merely treats conditions rather than cure disease.  'Fake food,' merely tastes good but without any nutrition.  'Fake education,' required by law to receive.   'Fake money'! ;-) Don't even get me started!!

Everyone of us has been born into a deluded world with professional liars at the helm.  Reality is purposely veiled by all the followers and believers who then project that upon the children.  The liberation from the bondage of lies and deception is a constant process of awakening and acting in accordance with the laws of nature (i.e. reality).  For me, this is what the spiritual path is — I know no other way to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Spoken like a true leftist ... socialist ... liberal ... authoritarian ... collectivist ... whatever.  Where is your defense of liberty?  You have confused classic liberalism with 'social work' in which the people are the unwilling clients. 

I do not doubt you have great ideas on how it all could be; however, you have trumped our will as a result.  How are your ideals and hopes different than a Christian congregation?  Your compassion needs an outlet, but as an atheist, you have made social justice your religion. 

I have no more problem with that than other organized faiths, as long as you keep within your proper jurisdictions.  If you want to join a club, go ahead and agree to the terms, but you cannot force those obligations on anyone else who has not agreed.

How about inspiring people to join rather than judge and blame?  Freedom means taking responsibility — what are you taking responsibility for?  That would be clearer.

"Once [a] program is in place, its day-to-day administration falls into the hands of a professional cadre besieged by powerful interest groups whose influence grows as public interest wanes."  SO true.

The brutal Kavanaugh hearings have demonstrated significant violence and vitriol against essentially a choir boy.  Talk about character 'assassination.'   Such 'polite' violence and blatant hypocrisy.  

Causes that are not in harmony with natural laws will require constant propping up.  What happens when a cure for cancer is found?  What happens when people become masters of their own destiny and no longer require saving?  So many of these causes are merely jobs programs — cures to society's ills would put them all out of work.

Robert, dependency upon government is the basis of authoritarian governments.  America was founded upon the natural rights of humankind, to be free from the arbitrary rule of men.  But how do children learn of their liberated status and how to keep it?  They learn from their family and community of people who live by their own efforts, and dare I say thrive unimpeded.  We agree that children need an education, but we are not being specific about what the content of that education should be.  Who is to decide what I will learn?  What choices do I have?  What obligations do I have?

Typically, these philosophical questions and their answers have been borne by religious orders throughout the ages.  But with the rise in secular authoritarianism, concepts such as 'liberty,' 'honor,' 'responsibility,' 'forbearance,' 'trust' in the laws of nature, and the common law have been corrupted with the creeds of power and domination.  The average American has been conditioned to sign on the dotted line, and follow the rules upon pain of criminal punishment — all for his own good.  A few resist the yoke, but not enough to influence the rest.  The answer to the question, "who am I?" has been answered by the authorities for me.  Wake up!

Perhaps search for the original Latin pre-translation?

Such arrogance from a very partisan judge.  Only Obama could have nominated someone like Ginsberg.  But as a result, it looks like Trump will fill her seat — and, no, he won't find anyone like Ruth Bader Ginsberg to replace her, thank goodness.

American freedom is not an experiment.  It is the result of a declaration of the People, some of which is asserted to be self-evident and inalienable.  Our liberty is maintained by the constant defense against any and all who would legislate it away. 

Socialism is the experiment, whose failures are numerous.  Like any other business, socialism should be confined to those who voluntarily join the association — no one else is subject to their rules.  Let the socialists experiment with their own labors and money.

It's not left vs. right, it's top vs. bottom — liberty vs. authority.

The media are the enforcers of groupthink and the gatekeepers of speech.  As with currency, flooding the airwaves with hearsay and opinion dilutes dialog and buries truth and facts.  In mob rule, the majority voices win, no matter whether right.  The majority opinion rules — which is why they fight so hard to dominate that majority.  Truth and justice are sacrificed on the altar of power.

Today's 'liberals' are not demanding liberty but merely a more equal distribution of compulsion for all.  They look not to free themselves but bind everyone else to the same fate.  They complain about being imprisoned and demand better conditions as an 'entitlement.'  Apparently, freedom is a 'privilege' and oppression is a 'right.'  With all the identity politics going on, liberals are so busy trying to reinvent themselves that they lose themselves.

Yes, Bill, the true practice of Christianity did not wipe out the Indians and their culture, but the missionaries did with the help of the US military. The intent to Christianize the savages is well known. I don't have a problem with Jesus, I have a problem with slaughtering indigenous people in the name of civilizing them by Christians. In my Christian upbringing, we respected the native peoples and their agrarian ways, their sacred view of the Earth, and their spiritual traditions. Not all tribes are the same — just as all western cultures are not the same. Taking a superior stand based upon one's religion/philosophy is to declare the unbelievers inferior and thus subject to the commands of the superior. It's always about power — to ignore that is narcissism and self-righteousness, i.e. authoritarianism.

Protected classes now include LGBTQ, blacks, illegal immigrants, muslims (not christians), foreign refugees, and the most protected class, government employees (who are paid more than the private sector now).  When empowerment is at the expense of others, it is not empowerment but theft.  'Diversity' means 'conformity',  'equality' means 'uniformity', and 'justice' has become 'subsidy.'  Victimhood has become the rallying cry of the power-elite to win votes from the poor and campaign funds from the powerful.  'White privilege' is the excuse for overt racism against whites — it is a 'black privilege' to call white people racist.

I think these guys can think for themselves.  Frankly, I don't think I've changed anyone's mind ever on this blog.  Let honest dialog reveal what it does.