There were people who had trances. I had surely heard of them, and they followed strange laws of which we could know nothing, they obeyed the tangled orders of their own sub-conscious minds.
Daphne DuMaurier
I have been living on God’s green earth for 54 years, and for those 54 years I naively believed that I had a right to my own thoughts. I was taught that what was in my mind was mine; and if I expressed what I thought to those around me there would be latitude given. A wide berth of grace. A modern day Mars Hill was healthy for all in our free society, where ideas floated around like the different colors of falling maple and oak leaves on a late October day. Each idea had its own weight and merit: the heavy ones landed hard on the curious and the wise; foolish and light speculations vanished away as soon as the steamy utterance hit the cool air. Criminals were not made from one momentary gaffe.
Not so anymore.
Now, in this hyper-politicized culture I don’t feel safe inside my own brain. Since early March of this year, the thought police have been on patrol. I feel stifled, where the once human act of forming my very own opinions seems forbidden. Thinking for oneself is now a rare luxury that was once enjoyed by people of the past. Even sharing opinions with neighbors and friends is like swimming with sharks, you never know when someone will snap back.
In order to keep the peace and stay safe, self-regulated lockdown of the mind is now mandatory. Don’t think, don’t share, don’t post, and definitely don’t disagree. Hate now sticks to you like mud – once someone slings the accusation at you it is sure to stick.
The prognostications of the dystopian dream 1984 was right, “There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always—do not forget this, Winston—always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler.”
How did this happen? I think two tendencies have formed the new parameters of the “thought acceptability grid” in our current age of thought:
(1) To stop the unwanted opinions of others, people in power will label the ideas they don’t like as vicious and cruel attacks. If the facts on an opponent’s side are persuasive and hard to disprove, simply blame the intentions behind the facts as hurtful. For instance, in the State of Michigan, the death count for the corona virus has clearly flattened in the last two months and the threat of death is minuscule. Those are the facts. They are hard to deny. But those who want people to stay in fear and not follow the facts will say, “Why do you criticize the hard work of the governor? Aren’t Christians supposed to be submissive to those in authority? Why do you disparage the scientists? Hater!”
If you don’t agree with a policy or behavior on moral and philosophical grounds you are labeled as immoral. To protest the protests your free speech is seen as being against free speech. So the safe bet is to stay silent.
2) If someone doesn’t think the way you want them to think threaten separation. Those who don’t like what you have to say will blame you for them leaving and then call you divisive. As long as you agree, friendship is extended, but once you take a side that is not acceptable to them you become marginalized as they blame you for doing the marginalizing. It really is fantastic how you can be blamed simply for thinking for yourself.
It has gotten so bad that when you do think for yourself people will say you are thinking they way you are thinking because you don’t know how to think for yourself. People will judge you by saying you are judgmental. People will show bias against you by claiming you are biased. People who hate your ideas will call you a hater. And no one wants to befriend a hater.
Both of these points are incredibly powerful in getting people to stop thinking for themselves. We all like to be liked, so if someone threatens dislike and even disdain, it will make those who disagree with them become more closed and guarded. Only the brave and fiercely independent soul will share without regard. Most of us are cowards because we hate to be shunned.
So we stay shut.
Our door stays locked and bolted so those who are looking to be offended will have nothing to be offended about. I now question myself for having a differing opinion. I self-regulate so I wont be attacked.
When I lived in Russia I saw this everywhere I went. People wore long faces to hide behind. It wasn’t safe to share. Pale expressions, heavy eyes, and pursed lips. Life was in lockdown. Communism worked it’s magic even if the heavy handed Stalin machine was no longer in operation. The fear of being ostracized for having a different opinion was still alive and well thirty years later. Rare was the person who smiled in public. Gone was laughter. Gray hung heavy in Moscow’s afternoon sky.
America now is turning gray as well. Because we no longer are allowed to think for ourselves. We are shouted down if we don’t admit we are the problem. We are considered crazy when we vote off the beaten path. We are pointed at for thinking strange thoughts.
Why are thoughts so dangerous? Why am I wrong for thinking I am not wrong? Why do people have the right to say they know what I am thinking better then I know myself? Isn’t my brain my own?
Not any more. I better get used to it.
