{"id":1475,"date":"2014-04-15T11:06:27","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T16:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1475"},"modified":"2014-04-15T11:09:56","modified_gmt":"2014-04-15T16:09:56","slug":"poem-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/15\/poem-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"

The worst thing about censorship is<\/span><\/p>\n

This short, one-line poem could be mistaken for half a poem.\u00a0 This poem may leave the reader wondering what I, the author, consider to be the worst thing about censorship. This poem may even beg the reader to fill in the blank, the censored blank, for themselves.\u00a0 Part of the point of the poem is that we will never truly know what we are missing when our ability to express ourselves in censored.<\/p>\n

There are at least two types of censorship: self-censorship, and being censored by another.\u00a0 Most often censorship refers to the latter, typically in objection to censorship as an unjust social relationship.\u00a0 This type of censorship is important to identify and address because it is a direct threat to free speech.\u00a0 This type of censorship creates a climate of fear among those whose expressions may be threatened, and a mistrust of authority among those who question the legitimacy of such censorship.\u00a0 Censorship stands in almost direct opposition to free speech.\u00a0 No doubt, some expressions should not be considered free speech, such as the proverbial shouting “fire” in a crowded theater.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I suspect that such cases are quite rare.\u00a0 The fear and social control generated by direct censorship ripples far beyond a person’s expression being squelched, and beyond potential recipients of that expression losing out on that expression.\u00a0 The fear of some social sanction leads to countless forms and incidents of self-censorship.\u00a0 This is the insidiously successful child of direct censorship.<\/p>\n

If those in a position of power to censor can cow us to become sheep, then their mold of our culture will grow more pronounced in our silence.\u00a0 I suspect self-censorship accounts for much, if not most, of the seemingly miraculous hold that the powers that be have over the masses.\u00a0 Self-censorship allows the illusion that power comes from above, top-down, rather than power being derived from the consent of the people.\u00a0 Of course, power from above, in the form of sheer force, is a scary reality.\u00a0 Social sanctions for simply speaking out can be large.\u00a0 In fact, the presence of a disproportionately large social sanction merely for speaking out is perhaps the surest clue that the underlying reality is unjust.\u00a0 After all, talk is cheap.\u00a0 But if questioning power structures is not dealt with early enough on, then the precarious illusion of top-down power masquerading as authority, and the seeming futility of bottom-up power, will continue unabated.\u00a0 A little shock and awe is sometimes needed to remind people of who is in control.\u00a0 Learned helplessness will do the trick the vast majority of the time.<\/p>\n

Overcoming self-censorship is a necessary condition for a free society.\u00a0 We can only deal well with reality if we know what that reality is.\u00a0 This requires liberal self-expression.\u00a0 Heavily redacted realities make poor citizens and sick societies.\u00a0 This may be the best single reason for either avoiding most of popular media, or consuming it with a high degree of literacy, to see it for the spectacle that it is.\u00a0 The images and messages, both overt and subtle, in media have a powerful effect on how we view reality.\u00a0 The simple fact that there is a whole genre of “reality” television that has little to do with reality is probably the best illustration of how far afield we have become.\u00a0 TV is a poor representation of reality.<\/p>\n

Overcoming self-censorship requires courage and sacrifice.\u00a0 As Amelia Earhart said, “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.”\u00a0 We can flow with the idolatrous, heavily redacted realities that invade our consciousness unrelentingly through media and advertising.\u00a0 Though such illusions are unsustainable in many ways, there is a lot of force applied to maintain them.\u00a0 Adding your consent to those forces may benefit you in many ways.\u00a0 Or, we can freely and courageously express our own realities which often differ profoundly from the heavily promoted narratives around us.\u00a0 This may exact a price, but, at least it is a price paid in homage to reality, not illusion.\u00a0 Who knows, we may very well find that the realities of the vast majority of humans on this planet have more in common with one another than the dreams foisted upon us.\u00a0 This is the making of peace.\u00a0 As Gandhi so simply and profoundly stated, “Peace is possible.”\u00a0 This reality is so routinely obscured.\u00a0 You can be a living expression of this reality.\u00a0 You are<\/em> the channel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The worst thing about censorship is This short, one-line poem could be mistaken for half a poem.\u00a0 This poem may leave the reader wondering what I, the author, consider to be the worst thing about censorship. This poem may even … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,9,15],"tags":[572,434,294,613,675,167,332,341,198,516,538,393,462,268,154,410,614,579,208,359,586,109,438,100,658,94,107,110,114,327,68,601,333,53,131,290,186,470,515,529,464],"class_list":["post-1475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peace","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-advertising","tag-authority","tag-awe","tag-censorship","tag-citizens","tag-consciousness","tag-consent","tag-control","tag-courage","tag-culture","tag-dream","tag-dreams","tag-fear","tag-free-speech","tag-gandhi","tag-helplessness","tag-illusions","tag-image","tag-liberal","tag-life","tag-literacy","tag-media","tag-mind","tag-one-line-poems","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-poor","tag-power","tag-powers-that-be","tag-proverb","tag-questioning","tag-reality","tag-sacrifice","tag-short-poems","tag-silence","tag-society","tag-state","tag-success","tag-sustainable","tag-time","tag-trust"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Censorship | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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