2016 was a victory that left conservative voices drunk with confidence. After finally getting a candidate into office that didn’t come from the political establishment, many conservatives expected an era of peace.
However, the amount of obstructionism and persecution that has been emitted by the progressives for normal conservatives has not only delayed the application of Trump’s policies and the execution of Brexit, but it has put the lives of individual pundits in jeopardy.
Leftist protestors are championed for faking hate crimes, assaulting political candidates, and otherwise tearing at public order in the west. Any rightwing activity is labeled as either Nazi protesting or terrorism. These labels are important. One side is presented in perfect light, and the other is presented with a damning one.
‘You Can’t Watch This’ is a documentary directed by George Llewelyn-John which artfully captures the crawling censorship that has threatened public discussion in this country since 2016. The film focuses on Alex Jones, Laura Loomer, Gavin McInnes, Tommy Robinson, and Paul Joseph Watson.
Each of these individuals are ultimately reasonable people who make sense when they’re allowed to explain themselves, but they’re people that the progressive press has deemed to be evil.
Progressives have a stranglehold over the infrastructure of our social discourse through their utter domination of Silicon Valley giants. They hold the most important positions of power at Google, Facebook, Twitter, and most media companies that make their money on these platforms. Not only have the progressives claimed the means of production, but they only allow other progressives to make use of these means.
The last thing that social media platforms want to see is a return to 2016. Many commentators have accredited the rise of both Trump, and Obama, to the use of social media by their campaigns. Due to this, platforms have gone through severe measures to shift the public conversation away from conservative positions, labeling these positions hateful or somehow illegal.
The platforms use these measures to shift the Overton window back to a position more ideal for their own agenda.
In media, a recent episode of CBS’ ‘The Good Fight’ promoted violence against people who fell outside of the progressively defined Overton window. Episode six of season one of the show was titled ‘Social Media and Its Discontents’. The entire production is a progressive gloat piece made to rile up physical aggression against people who see things differently than the socialists do.
Meanwhile, Alex Jones, who had millions of viewers, lost his right to use any of the mainstream platforms. He built the reputation which allowed the show to receive the attention that it did, he interested his viewers, and he allowed them to judge for themselves what he brought to their attention.
Through the merits of his work and the team that worked with him, Info Wars became one of the most successful shows in the nation. Not only were the progressives able to disrupt the messaging of this program through their hegemonic control over our means of communication, but they were eventually allowed to deplatform Infowars altogether.
This is a major issue on YouTube, as channels as blameless as Mumkey Jones, an edgy comedian who made fun of a shooter, are being stripped from the platform. Jokes that don’t align with the progressive narrative are enough to take away a man’s form of income. If they’re willing to attack comedians then one can only imagine what they do to their political opposition.
Over the last three years, a culture of fear has been forced over the surviving conservative voices. The deplatforming of their opinions comes at the same time as the progressive publication pushing lies about conservatives to agitate the public. Bricks have been thrown at Tommy Robinson, and most of the protestors against him can’t even accurately describe what Robinson believes.
The papers and media establishment are promoting the use of violent means among the leftist communities. They publish directly that one should attack people for having different opinions than them, labeling those with different opinions something that is becoming the equivalent of a slur.
Instead of dissecting the topography of the conservative landscape – or interviewing Jones, McInnes, Robinson, or Loomer – the progressives label them Nazis, fascists, and other hateful terms that are meant to dehumanize these individuals. This is meant to eject them from the conversation because the mainstream media has no response to the arguments that they are making. Instead of losing the argument, they’d rather prevent it from happening through slander.
The progressives’ ability to get away with this is excellently illustrated by the stories of these conservatives. ‘You Can’t Watch This’ succeeds in capturing the plight of conservative and libertarian voices who are trying to take part in the dialogue through fair means. Progressives are always complaining about anonymous death threats made online, but the FBI has approached Gavin McInnes telling him that there’s reason to believe a threat made against his life was truly legitimate. Perhaps progressives’ feelings are hurt more, but conservatives are the ones being persecuted for their lifestyles.
This documentary does a powerful job presenting the fear that comes with being a conservative pundit in the modern climate. Even at the top, there’s nothing but worry because they can take away the platform that you made yourself away from you. There is no way to live actually getting to benefit from your first amendment rights if you disagree with the status quo. Everyone who says something slightly controversial is brave enough to risk their entire career for truth.
All of the voices focused on in this documentary are solid conservative voices that deserve the right to represent their opinions. Most have had to move however, due to pressure from mob agitation encouraged by the mainstream media, and all fear to lose their livelihood if they have not already.
Although they’ve all been smart enough with money where they can live comfortable enough lives, they don’t have much of a choice of what to do. They’re incredibly publicized people, and almost all of the press covering them are hit pieces dripping with dishonest claims, quotes taken out of context, and tribal vocabulary. This leaves any conservative touched by media censorship essentially unemployable.
When this isn’t a conspiracy theory, but true reality, the entirety of our culture is at stake. We need open dialogue to be a democracy at all, and if we fail to see that we have a right to that then we’re giving up our basic freedoms. Without these freedoms, we will not be able to spread ideas at all, and only the government will be allowed to declare what’s appropriate for us to discuss.
Visually this documentary is very pleasing, and it presents the issues in a digestible way. It’s a quick watch, under an hour, and well shot. Everyone is featured in an incredibly human light, as McInnes takes the camera around his neighborhood, and Laura Loomer admits her struggle with suicide after the stress progressives put on her life. It’s a convincing piece that could be used to help family and friends who aren’t convinced that censorship is an important topic.
There is no need to look for the future for examples of rational people being thrown out of the discourse. Today we already have palatable and well-informed voices being restricted from using the platforms which they fairly built audiences on. The big tech companies are acting as publishers when they should only be platforms. No one should be held responsible for all of the actions which occur in a public space. The action of each individual is their own responsibility. Platforms should not have to pick and choose who they want around to stay on brand.
Progressives fall back on arguing about that these are private business and that private business should be able to do whatever they want. Maybe that’s true, but then still the companies must either be a publisher or platform. They can’t be both without a severe conflict of interest.
‘You Can’t Watch This’ masterfully displays the growing issues with censorship and violence that have been boiling up over the western world. It is an easy watch for how pleasantly all of the information is displayed, but this is a worrying time. This next year and a half will define the future of freedom-seeking nations, and it is of incalculable importance that we retain our rights as citizens.
image credit: You Can’t Watch This
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