Thread by @JuliusGoat

I'd like to ask Kirk Cox what exactly people are being silenced from saying. What, specifically, do they want to say, but don't, for fear of being shamed for it?

And: what, specifically, does Kirk Cox intend to do to ensure nobody can shame them for saying those things?

https://twitter.com/kirkcoxforva/status/1361072731622494209

I'm 46 years old, and I can't think of a time when bigots of all kinds felt more emboldened to speak their minds. I've never been more aware of how many people in my country proudly believe horrible, selfish, anti-human things.

What is this America over which Kirk Cox obsesses?

What is this "robust exchange of ideas" that Republicans would like to have?

What ARE the Republican "ideas" they would like to exchange with us so robustly?

An idea getting shut down and shamed? What is that? That's an idea failing on the free market of ideas.

Republicans claim politics should succeed or fail in the marketplace of ideas, then rig the market to force their failed ideas back on.

But what ARE Republican "ideas?"

Here is their "idea" on abortion.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1101133124078047234?s=20

Here is their big "idea" for catastrophic climate change.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1101152160845348866?s=20

Here's their "idea" on immigration policy.

https://twitter.com/lizcgoodwin/status/1005792417004392451?s=20

Here's their "idea" on police brutality nationwide. abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump…

Here's their "idea" on 500,000 dead from a pandemic.

https://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/1308384943727415296?s=20

Here's their "idea" on elections.

npr.org/2018/10/23/659…

Conservatives are *lavishly* free to express any of their horrible ideas. An army of opinion writers stands by to defend them should the slightest consequence occur.

It's still not enough; they want to say these things without consequence of criticism.

They want less speech.

I don't feel shamed, though I'm criticized and scorned every day. Even though my opinion leads me to receive harassing emails and DMs, I'm not silenced.

I stand by what I say, and I'm proud of it.

Because the things I say aren't shameful things to say. That's the difference.

And, if I say something unartfully enough to cause somebody pain, or I expose myself as somebody holding an unexamined and incorrect assumption—which has happened often—then I receive accurate criticism, and I welcome it, so I can listen, and learn, and improve.

Which is GOOD.

When the criticism is inaccurate bile, it doesn't shame, because it doesn't sting, because it's based in lies.

And criticism is no attack, if it's accurate, even though it stings. It's salvation. It's an opportunity. It's how you become a better person, if you listen and learn.

As long as you are willing to hear it, and learn, and grow, and improve, then accurate criticism is something to hope for, not to fear.

And *that* frees you to say whatever you want, without fear of failure.

This is true free speech.

Shame comes not from the sting of accurate criticism, but from the knowledge you've failed to listen and learn and grow from it.

I'll just note that conservatives, more often than not, claim the criticism they receive shames.

It must sting.

Draw your own conclusions.

My conclusion is this: People complaining about "cancel culture" are incurious minds, disinterested in any true exchange of ideas, who want only to escape the shame of being known as the sort of person who believes the sort of things they've chosen to believe.

And they know it.