The time we are living in will be remembered in history as many things, including the Age of the Vengeful Victim.
In the past, an arguer would be defeated by Logic, Empirical Evidence or deferring to Moral Taste. There the argument would end. The loser withdrawing to their room for contemplation or self-pity.
Today, the Loser in the argument can rebound and make an Appeal to authorities for having had their feelings hurt. A punishment will be sought.
Today, the Loser can conclude the argument by pressing for a breach in social, employment policy or legislation. Thus the Loser gets to win the argument by ad hominem.
The failed polemicist thus converts into The Victim. A victim demanding retribution.
This last resort of the meek is not lost on today's contenders, who are now beginning to shy away from frank and fearless argument altogether.
The fear of being punished by an opponent with the weight of law behind them is prophylactic.
Why risk serious and enduring harm just to speak your truth?
How will this trend evolve?
Honest debate will end. The pursuit of truth cut short. The search for truth and clarity too risky to pursue. What will society look like in such a world?
A society where serious problems go unsolved for fear of the consequences of offering diverse views.
And all the while, the meek shall celebrate the power of professing their views free from criticism and intellectual testing.
This is a world prohesied as warning from Huxley to Orwell to Russell and all those who cherish Freedom of Speech and the merciless pusuit of truth and accuracy and intellligence over emotion and appeasement of psychological fragility.
It is a world doomed to silence. A world ruled by the ignorant, the pathetic, the frail.
We advise all those who have benefited from the sacrifice of Free Thinkers and brave interlocutors hitherto to stand against the oppressive minorities who demand our silence in favour of their being found utterly Wrong.
Dennis Prager argues that a debater should not seek to Win an argument, but only to clarify where the debaters differ. A clarity of difference. But how can we clarify where we differ, when we cannot speak without fear of severe punishment?
Truth-Seekers of the World, UNITE!
No comments:
Post a Comment