My friends seem to currently fall into one of two buckets.

1) CENSORSHIP (even if that just means self-censorship by an individual or corporation) is a noble goal and a proper progression of society. To these people, it makes sense to try to remove offensive language, offensive characterizations, or offensive situations for any group (no matter how big or small) with the goal of creating a more inclusive society. Many of my friends who think like this are good people, want the best for society, and are very passionate about their beliefs.

2) CENSORSHIP (at any level) is a dangerous and slippery slope that signals the end of a successful & free society. Erasing the past, sterilizing our history, and creating “standards” of acceptable speech is extremely dangerous. Forcing everybody to be super sensitive, about every word that comes out of their mouth, at every moment in time, is a recipe for disaster. Many of my friends who think like this are good people, want the best for society, and are very passionate about their beliefs.

What’s most interesting to me, is that if you look back to the 1980s, these two groups of people were on the EXACT opposite side of the political divide. These two groups of people (at least in how they identify politically) have done a complete 180 degree flip over the last 40 years.

Think back to a time when a majority of liberals supported Larry Flynt, and his ability to publish any type of pornography that he wanted, under the banner of spree speech. It was conservative groups and Republican politicians who were trying to censor this kind of speech, due to their concerns over the implications it would have for society.

Think back to a time when conservative groups were trying to get warning labels put on rap CDs and violent video games. They argued that the content of this kind of media was “dangerous” to peoples minds, especially children. Liberals (and democrats) fought back hard against these ideas of censorship.

Think back to a time when the ACLU fought for the rights of Nazis (yes, REAL Nazis) to march through a Jewish community. They didn’t do it because they were standing up for the beliefs of white superiority, they did it because they knew that once the government (or society) got to pick who could and could not peacefully protest, if society started to pick who could and could not voice their opinion, we might as well end this democratic experience.

Think back to an earlier time of McCarthyism, when liberals were furious that Hollywood and the government worked in tandem to go on a political witchhunt to root out what they feared as communist operatives.

Ironically, and in a somewhat twisted reality, it actually feels like my more of liberal friends are the ones turning into members of the “thought police” - which is the exact group of people so venomously opposed in the 80’s and 90’s by liberals.

Meanwhile- free speech absolutism, pushing back against censorship (even if it’s just self imposed censorship), and refusing to back down on cancel culture, has all the sudden become the calling card of conservatives.

It’s a weird time in American. Maybe this is just the normal progression of the political pendulum swaying back-and-forth.