[BLOG] No one expects a Flat Earther in their breakfast

Seriously.

I should've seen this coming, admittedly.

The LBRY community is a place where people pushed out of other social media platforms feel safe in expressing their particular brand of crazy. That is simply true of all social media where one of the key selling points is "you can get away from mainstream restrictions and express yourself freely." That will always lead to an increase in the number of people who hold, putting it gently, "fringe opinions" and if you intend to be involved in freedom of speech-focused platforms, they are going to be part of your regular experience.

I didn't expect to wake up to find an argument between a radical Christian (and the less said about their particular interpretation of dogma the better) and a Flat Earther. I was not prepared for this.

The terrifying part is not that they were arguing about the specifics of their personal revelation of human experience – it was that they were aggressively, egregiously avoiding touching on the fact that they are both excluded from mainstream acceptance for much the same reason:

They're fucking crazy.

Possibly because observing and acknowledging that would require that they do something less than wholeheartedly throw themselves into a belief about reality which is not actually borne out by human experience. To acknowledge their similarities rather than their difference would require that they think about and internalize the fact that normal people look at them and inch away for perfectly good reasons.

Self-awareness is a hard stop for a lot of people.

It's kind of funny that I, someone who deliberately embraces rationalism in all of its forms and deliberately and consciously avoids buying into cultic thought, nevertheless finds himself surrounded by people who engaging cultic thought on a regular basis. Whether it be cryptocultists, Targeted Individuals, or less savory things – I'm generally in the middle of them, working hard to make sure that they actually get to speak their minds without undue repercussion.

When I was doing regular broadcasts on TalkShoe, I often noted that I was the Targeted Individuals' greatest fan and supporter. I went to bat on a regular basis, advocating for their right and ability to rub their paranoias against one another in public. I believe that as an individual, everyone has the right to speak in public space if not safely, openly.

It's not the quote I wanted here, but Peter Scheer has a rather good article on the necessity of associating with the unsavoury:

Hate speech needs constitutional protection not because bigoted rants, lies and snuff videos deserve an audience–they don’t–but because speech having no social value can’t be proscribed without also suppressing speech that does have social value. Even more than we dislike hate speech we fear a government that has the power to decide what speech will be heard and what speech will be silenced.

Constitutional safeguards for speech that really matters–political speech, informed criticism of official policies, artistic expression–are at their strongest when protection is also intact for speech that makes you want to cover your ears.

The time to really worry about personal freedom in America is when you can no longer hear the voices you hate.

If nothing else, I have access to voices that I disagree with, sometimes strongly, sometimes viscerally, on a regular basis. I think of it as part and parcel of being a member of a free society that I have the honor and opportunity to associate with them. I will do whatever is in my power to make sure that those with whom I disagree have the opportunity to speak in public – if for no other reason that it makes it easier to argue against them.

And also because it makes it easier to argue for my own freedom when someone else decides to take offense at what I say.

Enlightened self interest is a good thing.

Unfortunately, we're not seeing nearly as much of a belief in that in a wider societal sense as we should. I'm hoping that is just part of the societal pendulum swinging back the other way and not some sort of greater sociological pressure.

Hoping.