Can They Possibly Be That Blatant?

     It seems incredible…but their shamelessness might just be our best weapon against them:

     The World Economic Forum—an annual meeting of international business leaders, political figures, and other elites—is well underway in Davos, Switzerland. One of the topics of discussion on Monday was “The Clear and Present Danger of Disinformation,” presented by former CNN host Brian Stelter….

     Stelter kicked off the discussion by framing “disinformation” as the central conundrum of our times—all other problems being downstream of this issue. Sulzberger wholeheartedly embraced this view.

     “I think it maps, basically, to every other major challenge that we are grappling with as a society, and particularly the most existential among them,” he said, lumping in disinformation—false information, intended to mislead people—with “conspiracy, propaganda, and clickbait.” Disinformation is why society seems so fractured, why trust in elite institutions is declining, and why democracy itself appears to be retreating, they implied.

     This is a blatant call for the censorship of regime-disapproved channels of communication. And don’t kid yourself: They mean it:

     [Rep. Seth Moulton (D–Mass.)] at first used his speaking time to equivocate on whether the government should do more to combat online disinformation, correctly noting that Americans do not like to be censored, even if societal elites think it would be for their own good. But when the subject turned to COVID-19, he confessed that his resolve wavered.

     “When I have a constituency that I’m trying to keep healthy, and I can’t get them to take a COVID vaccine because of misinformation that’s propagated on the internet, that’s where this becomes a much tougher, more difficult, bigger concern,” he said.

     It’s no doubt true that misinformation about vaccines has spread online, causing harm. But the COVID-19 pandemic has shown precisely why no central authority can be trusted with the power to restrict allegedly harmful content. Government health bureaucrats, social media content moderators, scientists in good standing with the liberal consensus, and media organizations have all circulated false information about COVID-19. [Emphasis added by FWP]

     And many other things. But we’re supposed to suppress the expression of our own opinions, our own skepticism, and our own specialized knowledge so “the experts” – you know, the folks who haven’t been right yet — can speak without being contradicted or questioned.

     In the past, self-nominated elitists were careful…well, more careful, at any rate…to hide their contempt for us of the hoi polloi. They appear to have lost the knowledge of why that is a very important policy. And that is all to the good, for us who still value our freedom and refuse to trade it for an illusory safety.

     It’s time to take them down, by any means necessary.