International Man: Recently, we’ve seen an escalating global crackdown on speech in the (formerly) free societies of Europe and North America.
For example, in the UK recently, the government has been imprisoning individuals for social media posts under the guise of curbing “hate speech.”
What’s your take on this growing trend in general and events in the UK in particular?
Doug Casey: A few instances have been reported about how Keir Starmer, the new prime minister of Britain, has imprisoned citizens for saying quite innocuous things on the street, even on Facebook. But it’s not just about a few random people. It’s a nationwide campaign.
Over 400 Brits have been imprisoned for trivial speech offenses. It’s become a case of life imitating art. By that, I mean reality is starting to resemble that great movie, V for Vendetta. I urge everybody to watch if they haven’t seen it yet.
The disturbances in Britain are mostly about migrants, most of whom are Muslims. Britain has a bigger problem than the US because most of their migrants are Mohammedans. Masses of Islamic migrants present a much more serious threat to Western civilization and values than the mostly South American migrants the US gets.
That’s because in Islamic societies, which observe Sharia law, there is no such thing as free speech. I’ve read the Koran and good parts of the Hadith. There’s no question that if Britain reaches a critical mass of Islamic population, the nature of society won’t just be modified a bit, as it would be with people from Spanish countries. Islam intends to eliminate basic Western values. Islam isn’t just another religion. It’s a totalitarian system comprehending all aspects of life. The penalties for breaking its laws are extremely severe.
Saying negative things about Islam, its prophet, any racial or ethnic group, or even government employees is now dangerous. Saying things that might “trigger” miscellaneous individuals is becoming risky and could be labeled “hate speech.”
This brouhaha about “hate speech” is reprehensible. The Bill of Rights has no exceptions regarding free speech. But forget laws; free speech is the most basic and essential of all rights. It draws a red line between a free man and a serf. And it doesn’t matter how unsavory, agitated, or hateful it may be.
In fact, I’m all for hate speech, regardless of how unpleasant it may be. Not just for the reasons I gave or because I like it (I don’t) but because I want to know what’s on others’ minds. I want to know what they’re thinking, what their psychology might be, and what kind of people I’m dealing with. It’s idiotic as well as immoral to suppress other people’s so-called hate speech. How can you know who you’re dealing with and what they believe?
Suppressing free speech, for any reason, is a step towards turning the West into a series of police states. It’s happening everywhere right now. And there’s very little resistance to it.
The type of people who go into government, almost everywhere, are inevitably those who like to control other people.
In private life, they’re busybodies and bullies. But once they gain control of the apparatus of the State, they’re happy to use force to impose their wills on others. The situation is worse in Europe. But as bad as the individual governments in Europe are, the European Union in Brussels is even worse; it elevates the worst of the worst to positions of power. Durov is being detained in France, but he’d have this problem everywhere in Europe.
What’s happened to Durov shows that even being wealthy, famous, and influential is no longer much of a shield against the types who control governments. And it’s not just Durov who is at risk. Elon Musk has been threatened. Interestingly, among billionaires, only Musk is an outspoken defender of free speech. You’ll notice that Bezos, Zuckerberg, and dozens of other billionaires who control the Internet, broadcasting, and publishing companies have no problems of this type. That’s because they’ve inserted themselves into “elite” and Deep State circles, mimicking their values. They’ll be just fine.
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