Bret Stephens thinks that progressives on twitter engaged in counterspeech are more powerful and more dangerous than president Trump.
Bret likes to invoke Socrates, but his notion of free speech can not withstand an ounce of Socratic inquiry.
(Sigh.., 1/x, I guess)
Bret likes to invoke Socrates, but his notion of free speech can not withstand an ounce of Socratic inquiry.
(Sigh.., 1/x, I guess)
Stephens asserts that Trump is not dangerous because he is incompetent.
With over 120,000 Americans dead of COVID, he might consider that Trump’s incompetence is itself a clear and present threat to the country and all its traditions.
(2/x)
With over 120,000 Americans dead of COVID, he might consider that Trump’s incompetence is itself a clear and present threat to the country and all its traditions.
(2/x)
But let’s set that aside. Stephens warns that the real danger is that statues will come down, and that advertisers will pull advertising from hateful content, and that people will be held to account for racist speech acts when they only meant them ironically.
(3/x)
(3/x)
This is a vision of free speech that collapses under minimal Socratic scrutiny. It’s a Freedom of speech that demands a safe space from all counterspeech — free speech for me but not for thee.
(4/x)
(4/x)
FedEx telling Dan Snyder to change the damn name IS speech.
People pressuring FedEx to tell Snyder this are engaging in speech as well.
Protest actions are acts of speech, even if those protest actions are aimed at people who Bret Stephens identifies with.
(5/x)
People pressuring FedEx to tell Snyder this are engaging in speech as well.
Protest actions are acts of speech, even if those protest actions are aimed at people who Bret Stephens identifies with.
(5/x)
That’s the rotten core of every “campus cancel culture” controversy.
You have the right to speak. You don’t have a right to a (paid) platform. And if people think your speech is bad, offensive, harmful, or dangerous, then THEY have just as much right to say speak as well.
(6/x)
You have the right to speak. You don’t have a right to a (paid) platform. And if people think your speech is bad, offensive, harmful, or dangerous, then THEY have just as much right to say speak as well.
(6/x)
This is an insight so mundane that it barely deserves mentioning. Free speech applies to everyone, even people who criticize Bret.
But it is fundamentally at odds with Stephens’s view of the social order, so he continues to pretend it does not exist.
(7/x)
But it is fundamentally at odds with Stephens’s view of the social order, so he continues to pretend it does not exist.
(7/x)
In this passage, he insists that the greatest threat to the American tradition is *people demanding public apologies for offensive speech to avoid being fired.*
(8/x)
(8/x)
Let’s set aside that, no, in the fiery hellscape that is 2020, that threat doesn’t make the cut.
There are Murder Hornets now.
If the COVID outbreak is unchecked, we might not even HAVE in-person classes in the fall.
(9/x)
There are Murder Hornets now.
If the COVID outbreak is unchecked, we might not even HAVE in-person classes in the fall.
(9/x)
Here’s what you should know about Bret Stephens:
He has never apologized to me.
He didn’t apologize for contacting my provost after being offended by my tweet.
He didn’t apologize for comparing me to a nazi propagandist in the pages of the NYTimes.
(10/x)
He has never apologized to me.
He didn’t apologize for contacting my provost after being offended by my tweet.
He didn’t apologize for comparing me to a nazi propagandist in the pages of the NYTimes.
(10/x)
It’s been almost a year since the #bretbug incident.
Bret has learned nothing.
He still writes the same small, tired columns.
He still behaves as though the right to speak unencumbered should be differentially applied to people with the correct upbringing.
(11/x)
Bret has learned nothing.
He still writes the same small, tired columns.
He still behaves as though the right to speak unencumbered should be differentially applied to people with the correct upbringing.
(11/x)
He’ll keep writing these columns, not because they get hate-clicks, but because they have an audience among the powerful.
His columns are a balm to those with unearned power.
Speech isn’t threatened by State action. Cops beating journalists and demonstrators doesn’t matter.
His columns are a balm to those with unearned power.
Speech isn’t threatened by State action. Cops beating journalists and demonstrators doesn’t matter.
Free speech, in Bret’s telling, gives shelter to those members of the Republic of Letters.
It gives carte blanche to say whatever they want and face no consequences, so long as they have earned their membership.
It is a secret handshake. It is a get-out-of-trouble-free card.
It gives carte blanche to say whatever they want and face no consequences, so long as they have earned their membership.
It is a secret handshake. It is a get-out-of-trouble-free card.
You know those asshole Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists who spent the week brigading Taylor Lorenz?
THEY are the audience for Bret Stephens’s perpetual drivel.
THEY are the audience for Bret Stephens’s perpetual drivel.
Stephens tells them that their privilege is well-earned, their awful ideas are “daring” and the people criticizing them are the real threats to truth, justice and the american way.
Stephens tells them that, like himself, they need engage in no introspection or self-critique.
Stephens tells them that, like himself, they need engage in no introspection or self-critique.
It’s power sans responsibility.
Deflection in place of inquiry.
It’s writing that comforts the comfortable and afflicts the afflicted.
Deflection in place of inquiry.
It’s writing that comforts the comfortable and afflicts the afflicted.
I sometimes get asked why I still bother with Bret Stephens.
Here’s why:
People like Bret ought to be embarrassed. He has influence. He uses it poorly. He should feel bad about that.
So I reserve the occasional moment to embarrass him.
That’s speech. And it’s good.
(Fin)
Here’s why:
People like Bret ought to be embarrassed. He has influence. He uses it poorly. He should feel bad about that.
So I reserve the occasional moment to embarrass him.
That’s speech. And it’s good.
(Fin)
