As much as I believe the importance of freedom of speech, I’ve realized that during the past two and half years, unfortunately, too many within the populace lost their ability or willingness to read. Instead, they wish for everything (including how to think) to be handed to them in a five-minute pre-digested video.

This lost will to comprehend—is it contrived by the powers that be, or is it by one’s personal design? Does one not read because they recognize news is no longer a valid statement of fact but of woke opinion? Or, have insidious players conditioned us to rely on group think and seek information provided to us at our fingertips?

We once heralded the internet as the ultimate tool for seeking knowledge and new ideas without censorship. Now the internet openly defies freedom of expression. Social media sites and search engine platforms praise themselves for the unbiased objectivity from their fact checkers and their complicated algorithms. Yet, we are repeatedly having our use restricted, or warning labels applied; or worse yet, denied access or bounced to prioritized links. The battle against free expression and critical thinking is relentless.

We witness youths today sitting side by side, texting to the other rather than using vocal cords to communicate. Is this because, perhaps, our culture dread sharing their opinions out loud for fear of rebuking or retribution? Or is it because they’ve lost the ability to communicate ideas or debate complex ideas?

Words can be dangerous to those who oppose independent thinking. Then there are others who hope life remains stable; those not wishing to upset the apple cart—to not offend anyone that may cause them to be singled out. You know the ones I speak of, the ones who blindly trust dictates, they adhere to the yellow arrows painted upon the floors without complaint. Rather than move against the grain to retrieve a forgotten grocery, they prefer to go home without, or restart their pilgrimage at the entrance.

What if the finish line directed one to a chamber with shower heads affixed upon the ceiling and scratched laden walls etched from desperate fingernails?

So many around us are not even sure they WANT to be free – how many do you know who appear to be happily obedient? How many still wear a mask? How many are still staying their distance and may never touch another human again? How many are going to be injected, even microchipped, to be “free?”

A familiar authority appears less frightening, then soliciting one’s own thoughts to consider new concepts. Authoritarian/totalitarian powers frequently abused this inclination towards security to encourage repression, limiting opposition, and restricting debate.

Foremost in the repression of knowledge is to manipulate information and to control news. We are told what to watch and what to hear. And all too often, a writer’s words are not only censored but dismissed and belittled. Brilliant minds and exemplary credentials are vilified and marginalized, without allowing them any platform.

Every operation of these tyrants depends on one single thing: the ignorance of the people.

The influence of government over media and freedom of expression has never been greater. Authorities who deem divergent thoughts and controversial scientific research as misinformation filter and sequester data and writing.

Rather than viewing differing political, social or scientific opinions as an opportunity for debate, our words, the gate keepers manipulate our thoughts. Raging despots and profiteers marginalize those of us who have rational questions and insist on strict adherence to dictatorial mandates.

The push for conformity reveals the motivation behind government policy and decisions—many refer to it as the Great Reset, Agenda 21 or Agenda 2030. It is a carefully contrived plot to remove your liberties and your wealth- an arrangement where you will own nothing and be happy. A plan to eliminate five-billion people from this planet.

“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.” – Salman Rushdie.

Who among us will defend freedom of speech?

What defeats those who wish to censor are people who rise up, and share truth, to inform the world around them.

How many are going to rise up and declare, “I will die on my feet rather than live on my knees as slaves and captives to the New World Order. I will stand with God.”