You CAN’T say that.
How many people remember the words of Hermione Granger who, after finally saying the name “Voldemort” for the first time, made the observation that, “Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.”
Despite the fact that she’s right, our over-corrected current culture has cancelled almost as many words as they’ve made up to fit their personal agendas, words they force upon people who never asked for them.
But that’s another story, this is about the opposite phenomenon. This is about bleeping out or blotting out any words certain types can’t handle because of their unique, self-perpetuated sensitivities.
Let’s say you’re trapped in a hostage situation where there are nine hostages and one criminal holding you all. The criminal is armed with a gun, who would you listen to? The only people offering to do anything at all are a person who has been whimpering and crying because they can’t believe this is happening to them, their big idea is to threaten to sue. Or would you listen to the two off duty cops who happen to be there and know they can safely take the guy out?
In the real world there’s no way that people so easily triggered by words they consider name calling tantamount to physical assault would be running the show. Unfortunately, most people don’t live in the real world, they live at least 80% online and another 10% governed by what the internet tells them to do. The other 10% is for sleep. Think about it, would you elect an official afraid to even name the “big issues” let alone tackle them head on?
Yet here we are and it’s gotten to the point where so many words are blotted out for the easily triggered that it’s hard to understand what some articles are even about. Headline: “7 people were arrested today for_____ one was ____ and___ for ____.” Wanna read that?
You can say “trafficker” but not “human trafficker” or “sex trafficker.” You can say sex, but not if it’s followed by “worker” but of course you can say “worker.” You can say sexual, but not if it’s followed by “abuse,” and you can’t say “abuse” at all. That’s the tip of a very, very, large, crazy iceberg, the largest one in history.
All the while when you actually come across people who have issues with these topics, or an agenda to push, they almost always start their rants with, “We need to talk about…” So my question seems clear, how the hell are people supposed to engage in conversations about these issues and come to understand them enough to create solutions if no one is even allowed to name them?
A lot has led to the myriad misunderstandings about “the issues.” Most issues are presented by online media sources with very clear agendas. They’re often focused on telling someone’s super special very own truth. To be clear, there’s only the objective truth, which can generally be proven. Everything else is opinion or, at best, hypothesis.
Sure, your reactions to a personal anecdote, relatable story or personal experience could be considered “your truth,” but not anyone else’s, and you can’t make it anyone else’s. That’s the nature of it being personal. Here’s some objective truth, stop being part of the problem.
This censorship has to stop.
Hey, we need to talk about ________ ______.
