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Banned! Taken Down! Deplatformed!
The suppression of dissenting voices works to undermine freedom and human flourishing. We’re building the Dissenting Voices platform because whenever, wherever freedom is diminished, so too is the hope of human flourishing. Today that freedom is being impacted by the aggressive suppression of independent voices—the voices of people who dare to think for themselves, to ask penetrating questions, to actually apply critical thinking to the world’s problems. Continue reading Banned! Taken Down! Deplatformed!
Plato and the Red Pill
In Plato’s classic allegory, a group of prisoners has been confined in a cave their entire lives. They have no knowledge of the outside world. They are chained and shackled, facing a wall, unable to turn their heads in any other direction. Behind them, a fire burns, its glow casting a flickering light. People pass in front of the fire, casting shadows on the wall… What happens when one of the prisoners escapes and learns what’s really going on? Continue reading Plato and the Red Pill
Experts and the Dissenting Entrepreneur
Domain experts are very good at two things: 1) telling you why some things won’t work, and 2) coming up with solutions to problems that are only incrementally better than the current state of the art. Worse, as their expertise grows, they begin to assume a mantle of conceit—“an iron gate” that admits no new knowledge or potentially expansive possibilities. And in the process, real, exponential, and entirely possible progress is stalled. Continue reading Experts and the Dissenting Entrepreneur
In Praise of Unequal Outcomes
The National Education Association is doing everything in its power—and it has a lot of power—to shut down charter schools. In one example of their propaganda, an NEA task force, focused on the “problem” of charter schools, claims that their explosive growth has led to the rise of “separate and unequal systems … that are not subject to the same basic safeguards and standards that apply to public schools.” To that, I can only say, “Thank God!” Let’s see what kind of inequality they’re talking about. Continue reading In Praise of Unequal Outcomes
The Age of the Creatively Maladjusted
One of our most cherished freedoms is the freedom of opinion—and the right to express it. It is our great equalizer. Lately, however, that freedom has been challenged by a small number of people who have decided that their opinion is more equal than others. And they’ve managed to indoctrinate—or at least intimidate—a sufficient number of people that they’ve tacitly accepted it. If you can … Continue reading The Age of the Creatively Maladjusted
If there is No Objection…
The dissenting voice is perhaps the most potent force on the face of the Earth. And it is doubly powerful when it involves the reasoned application of critical thinking in questioning or challenging a dominant or majority view. As such, dissension, by definition, expresses a minority view. Yet history teaches us that it’s the minority that has always been the motive force in shaping the world. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has!” Continue reading If there is No Objection…
Water, Anyone?
Once upon a time there was a king in India. An astrologer told him: “Whoever shall drink the rain which falls seven days from now shall go mad.” So the king covered his well, that none of the water might enter it. All of his subjects, however, drank the water, and went mad, while the king alone remained sane. The king could no longer understand … Continue reading Water, Anyone?
Dissenting Voices 