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Europe Has Fallen – HotAir

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April 17, 2024
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Europe Has Fallen – HotAir

Yesterday, I wrote twice about censorship; this post is my third in 24 hours. 

In the first post, I spoke of the censorship that I have been subjected to; in the second, I wrote about the Brussels mayor summarily closing down the National Conservatism Conference, in which many conservative politicians from across Europe were silenced for disagreeing with the Socialist mayor of the city. 

The mayor actually sent the police to close the conference down because the speakers were “ethically conservative.”

Horrors! “Ethically conservative!”

Today, I want to come back to that second instance, mostly because European liberals cheered on the mayor sending police to stop people from speaking. The laughter at and approval of sending men with truncheons to silence people from speaking says much about where things stand in Western capitals and the halls of the elite institutions. 

Before I go on my rant, let it be acknowledged that not every left-leaning politician approved of the move to shut down the meeting. A few brave souls admitted that there was something a bit off when a government official claimed to be defending democracy by shutting down everybody who disagreed with him. 

The UK PM’s spokeswoman called reports of police action “extremely disturbing”.

She said that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was a “strong supporter and advocator for free speech” and that he was “very clear that cancelling events or preventing attendance and no-platforming speakers is damaging to free speech and to democracy as a result”.

Alexander De Croo, the Belgian prime minister, also said the shutting down of the conference was “unacceptable”.

Former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman and far-right French politician Eric Zemmour were listed as keynote speakers at the event.

Referring to the fact that it was the local mayor, Emir Kir, who opposed the conference, Mr De Croo said that while municipal autonomy was a cornerstone of Belgium’s democracy, it could “never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech”.

“Banning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop,” Mr De Croo wrote on X.

In a message to organisers, Mr Kir had said some of the attendees of Tuesday’s conference held anti-gay and anti-abortion views. “Among these personalities there are several particularly from the right-conservative, religious right and European extreme right,” his statement said.

Unfortunately, the ranks of the brave do not include the Labor Party in Britain, which laughed while their countrymen were silenced. 

Very on-brand. 

Others cheered the totalitarianism because, well, shutting Farage and company up is the best possible way to defend freedom of speech. 

No, I am not kidding. They truly believe that shutting down speech is defending speech or something. 

There is no evidence that Farage, Braverman, or any other conservatives want to silence their opponents, but why let facts get in the way of a good narrative? The EU claims to preserve the right to free speech and damn it, if you oppose the EU, then you deserve to be silenced…

Yep, that makes sense. If you are a communist. Freedom is slavery.

Conservatives are against freedom, we are told, so of course we need to ensure that they are driven out of free societies. Free societies, obviously, are ones in which everybody is free to repeat exactly what they are told. Wait to speak until you are told what to say, and then repeat it exactly. 

You know, like what the MSM does. 

Everywhere we look, you can see liberals explaining in excruciating detail that we must subject ourselves to ever greater control by the elite to preserve democracy. Our ability to speak, travel, drive, live where we want, post our ideas on social media, or even purchase things without approval from the government must be restricted lest we lose our freedoms. 

Experts know how we should use our freedom, so be free by doing exactly what they say. Here, have an injection or lose your job. Don’t wear a mask, wear a mask, don’t go outside, stay away from your dying grandmother, worship Fauci and the security state…it’s for your own good. 

We know best, so do what we say. And if we contradict ourselves daily, keep up. Visit the CDC site to learn more…

As criminals roam our streets, aliens cross our border with impunity, and wars erupt around us we should surrender our ability to think for ourselves because those who are destroying our society have our interests at heart. As trillions of dollars are transferred to the wealthiest, we should be grateful because they know how best to feed us, build our cities, and control our elections. 

Want to house and illegal alien in your home, by the way?

Clearly, Suella Braverman is wrong to say that Britain should leave the European Commission on Human Rights—after all, it is what guarantees her right to free speech. 

Uh, what? She was just shut up in the heart of Europe, where the ECHR supposedly rules. Human rights only apply if you submit. 

Freedom is slavery. 

The Labour Party believes that conservatives being shut down by police demonstrates how extreme conservatives are, and perhaps they are right. But that simply proves that we live in a society in which vast numbers of people have become comfortable with allowing the powers that be to define the contours of our lives. We see this in our own country, where vast numbers of people cheer on the suppression of dissent. 

That speaks ill of them, not the suppressed. They are, in the end, tyrants. If you cheer on tyranny, you are siding with Xi and Putin, not Gandhi or Martin Luther King. 

You are the baddie. You are the Nazi, the Communist, the totalitarian. If shutting people up is your definition of freedom, you are the person Orwell warned us about. 

Freedom of speech isn’t necessary for people willing to parrot the beliefs of the elite; it is there to protect the minority. Sometimes, the minority is in the right, and sometimes it is in the wrong. But we know for certain that every great world-changing idea was the product of dissent. If it weren’t, it wouldn’t have been world-changing. 

Any society that cannot tolerate rational dissent is on the path to totalitarianism. 

Europe is on that path, and to be honest, so are we. 

The irony is that the reason that populist movements that scare the elite so much are growing is that the elite brooks no dissent. They don’t listen and they don’t respect anybody who is not a member of their club. 

We just keep being told that our leaders know best. That Joe Biden is running circles around his advisors. That the economy is great. That the vax is safe and effective. That we should all eat our bugs and be grateful. 

The harder they push, the greater the pushback. This is not going to end well. And if you merely shrug at this sort of tyranny, you are part of the problem. 

I invite you once again to sign up for our VIP program because it is the lifeblood of all Townhall Media publications. Free speech is dying, Big Tech and Big Government want us gone, and only you can help us keep going. 

As I wrote earlier, we need your help to keep going despite all the attacks. Sign up to our VIP Program. Use the code CENSORSHIP for 50% off!



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