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Dear Ken,
Twitter, it says here, has kicked the amazing actor and articulate political pundit James Woods off its vaunted platform for no other reason than that he writes truths that make the left all butt-squirmy. To me, this is the absolute last straw. These “social media” things originally presented themselves as futuristic channels of free and open communication. They are, instead, utter frauds, regressive cheats, and petty censors, stuck in the discredited and obsolete collectivist past, determined to drag everybody else back there with them.
They are also corporations, and, as such, fully as subject Bill of Rights limitations as any other tentacle of the government.
As a lifelong libertarian thinker and writer, I hate, loathe, and despise regulation of any kind. But I hate this elementary school neo-puritanism even worse. I hate some snotty asshole snatching my mail out of my mailbox. I want to hear what James Woods has to say, and I don’t buy a single syllable of the pseudo-tech bullshit they spew as an excuse for trying to control people’s lives.
I have fought censorship all my life. If Twitter fails to restore Woods’ account and never bothers him or anybody like him—Alex Jones, for example—ever again, I will begin to advocate publicly that it—and other enterprises like Facebook, Youtube, and Google itself be seized by Federal Marshals and turned over to the US Postal System. At least they pretended to mind their own damned business, and you could be locked up for messing with a mailbox.
Please pass it on.
L. Neil Smith, author of The Probability Broach
and The Lando Calrissian Adventures, et al.
[email protected]
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Equality
Cats are the ultimate libertarians, when it suits them. This evening I was enjoying my Autumnal Equinox bowl of tobacco. One of the neighborhood cats that comes by to enjoy the cat-food we leave out for them came by for dinner. Now, these little guys want food, but they expect to have their privacy respected (thus the when it suits them observation). So I had to fill the food dishes while carefully "not seeing" the cat, who was not seeing me do so. He went to eat while I went off to smoke. We didn't see each other the whole time. After he finished eating he sat on the porch and I finished my pipe a few feet away. We shared the porch without bothering one another, each attending his honest business in peace with the other.
That's why I say that cats are the ultimate libertarians, you do your thing and don't pester them and they will return the courtesy.
As I was going in the cat meowed at me to come over. He sniffed my hand, then moved on before I could pet him. He respected my right to do my thing and acknowledged that we share our world. That and a little bit of kibble is all he wants back. He may deign to show a little affection, a gift given between equals, not the fawning of a dog. I like dogs just fine, but sometimes just sharing a porch quietly with a cat who is willing to admit you're his equal is kind of cool.
A.X. Perez
[email protected]
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