(Originally posted 10 March 2023)

"You're Being Silenced": The Art Of Making Your Opinion Louder

(There were no professionals contacted in the writing of this article. This piece is merely an observation of the world, and a theory as to why things are as they are.)

Have you ever heard the phrase, "They're taking away our free speech"? If you haven't, I'm happy for you, but if you have, there's probably only one kind of person who has said it: someone who wishes to revoke the rights of minorities.

Over the last few years, conservatives have latched onto the idea that the First Amendment is being violated or unwritten or some other crime against freedom of speech. Of course, many others know this theory is wrong; they understand that The First Amendment protects an individual from being silenced by the government, but does not free them from the consequences of their actions in the jury of public opinion. However, in the last few years, I feel like I've observed this ideal enough that I can properly trace what it is meant to accomplish.

I don't believe this idea comes from something so simple. With the perpetuation of corporations peddling false information, "free speech" is well and truly safe in the United States, and people know this. However, what do you do when someone tells you your voice is being silenced, or you are being ignored?

I would like to propose that this ideology, this way of thinking that freedom of speech is under attack, is intentional for one purpose: To make those who support you louder.

The order of operations is this: someone claims they are being silenced for their controversial views, even though those views are not truly controversial: "I like to uphold good christian values," or, "I prefer a more traditional family dynamic," or something similarly tame. They claim that the "woke left" are silencing them, and get people on their side who agree with them. From there, their supporters begin to set in more harmful and hateful opinions, contrary takes to those they are being silenced by, by telling them that they are "being forced to believe it," even if they are not. Then the "silenced" get rowdy, they get loud, and more people feel like their rather tame values are being violated, they become more hateful, they become loud, and the cycle continues.

This cycle has persisted for most likely years, but it has come to my attention in the last eight, during Donald Trump's election campaign, where he said, "what the american people are too afraid to say." This theory of cyclical silencing comes into effect here, because what was said was not, "My incredibly hateful views are being taken away," but instead, "My Christian values are being silenced."

Following this, what begins to happen is that any contrary argument is viewed as an attempt to silence them. "Your views are racist or homophobic or hateful," becomes an attack, even if there is truth to it.

I cannot ignore the primary elephant in the room, and that is the people who were actually silenced. In the fight for rights, many minority groups had to fight against being silenced for their at-their-times controversial views. It has not been long historically since the belief that "equal rights are good" was seen as controversial. The reason this theory doesn't apply here is that these people were actually silenced, in the most permanent sense. Many civil rights and queer rights activists were killed outright, including Martin Luthor King Jr, the most notable of these activists.

However, in the modern world, the people now claiming they are being silenced are obviously not. Outspoken conservatives such as Andrew Tate, Ben Shapiro, Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, and of course, Donald Trump, are all louder than ever. Andrew Tate makes his money from acting like "The Matrix" is trying to control him, and in turn trying to control his followers and fans. Ben Shapiro gets paid to "debate" (see: uninhibitedly interrupt and invalidate) trans and queer people. Alex Jones is quite possibly the most notorious conspiracy theorist of the modern day. Tucker Carlson is infamous for spreading misinformation and hate as the host of Fox News, one of the most viewed news sources in America. And Donald Trump doesn't need his story to be told.

These people were not silenced, and their fans were not silenced either. The closest thing they could get to being silenced is being blocked on Twitter or removed from a Discord server. The exceptions are Andrew Tate - currently jailed pending trial for human trafficking - and Donald Trump - on trial for causing civil unrest and instigating the insurrection in January of 2021. However, obviously, criminal behaviour receiving punishment is not silencing.

This tactic, the cycle of silencing, is employed by many other hate groups globally. With the publication of the 2600 Pages of Hate, it is clear that these hate groups are not being silenced, and in fact, attempting to silence their opposition to get what their bigotry desires. There are of course many other examples, but this publication is the most recent at the time of writing this.

And then when people speak out against these figureheads, they get threatened; notable political streamer Keffalz has received numerous death threats for her coverage of trans issues. The women that speak out against Andrew Tate have his entire fan base at their doorstep or in their DMs, looking to actually kill them, meaning they have to hide their faces and names when they file these reports and then go into hiding or witness protection.

So, in fact, those being silenced are the ones attempting to silence their critics. The figureheads claim that those critical of them are silencing them, and the followers go after them like vultures to a corpse. The followers are also encouraged to make their voices heard even louder, spreading the idea that simple semi-outdated views are being taken away and garnering more sympathy, support, and soldiers to fight.

In short, the idea that conservatives are being silenced is a ploy to make their voices and ideals and hatred louder.

So... what do we do now?

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer. All of this is theoretical, after all, based on loose observation and ideas of how it all works. But hopefully in defining how the plan might work, how bigots get a hold of more bigots and make them loud, it might help people to see the plot when it's coming for them. It might help to stop people from falling into holes of hatred they wouldn't normally fall into. And it might help people formulate ways to pull people out of these holes of hatred when they do fall in.