Now that you say that, there is a growing separatist movement in Alberta (Canadian Texas). Thank you for your suggestion, friend! I wasn't planning on it, but I'll seriously take this to heart and look for opportunities to move out west in the near future. #wexit

I'd love to, but I can't.

Babylon Bee only publishes satire :(

I can see the headlines now:

The claim that Biden votes counted for 1.2 and Trump votes counted for 0.8 has been debunked, and is mostly false. In reality, Biden votes count for only 1.125, and Trump votes count for 0.875, which is much higher than the original claim of 0.8. Ergo, these allegations are mostly false and should be censored as misinformation.

I'll play devil's advocate and offer up an alternative explanation, with the disclaimer that I'm definitely open to hearing about flaws in my argument/reasons I'm wrong!

1. Developing/non-industrialized countries have very high birth rates - in 1800s Europe, it wouldn't be uncommon for a family to have 8+ kids. Same thing Africa, Southeast Asia, etc.

2. These high birth rates are attributable to (among other things), a high child mortality rate. High child mortality --> most of their kids will probably die, so they need to have many children just to increase the odds of one making it to adulthood.

3. Vaccinations (like actual vaccines against TB and malaria) reduce the child mortality rate from these diseases, meaning instead of needing to have 8 kids to make sure 2 survive, they only need to have 4 kids.

This is one of the reasons why birth rates in developed nations (North America, Japan/South Korea, Western Europe, etc.) have fallen drastically. Another reason is from economic development and a shift away from agriculture to manufacturing/services. Non-industrialized agriculture is very labor-intensive; pivoting away from that lifestyle means a family needs to have fewer children to maintain their livelihood.

As I said, just an alternative explanation for Gates' statement about using vaccines to reduce the population in developing countries. I'm open to being corrected!

"Just following orders" didn't hold up too well during the Nuremburg trials, either

Friend, there's not much this Orthodox Canadian pede can do from up here, but I'll certainly join you in this. The priest says a beautiful exposition on the power of fasting and prayer during our fasting seasons, if you (or anyone else) are interested, I'm happy to post it!

Upvoted to raise awareness/discussion, but I respectfully disagree for the following reasons:

1. Who decides what 'the right things' are to censor? This is precisely the same logic used by the left to justify their censorship initiatives, that 'they know what's best for society'. You might say, 'this contravenes the Bible, and should be censored' (an appeal to authority), and they would respond, 'we don't believe in God! We believe in ""Science""!' (another appeal to authority), and would proceed to burn a Bible.

2. Know thy enemy. Even if they are censored, and even if they believe that their writings will be censored, this will not stop them from writing. They will continue to spread their ideas, but we won't know how - we won't know what they're saying or thinking. But, it will stop us from seeing their playbook. This is precisely the mistake the left made, evidenced by their complete inability to get a single poll right. They effectively censored right-wing talking points - can't express a conservative position in the mainstream media, on social media, on popular websites and forums...it didn't stop us from talking to each other, but it did stop us from talking to them. They stop seeing our presence, and act with hostility when they do see us. We withdraw, and they lose the ability to monitor us, leading them to underestimate our strength. We shouldn't make the same mistake.

3. Censorship grants the object being censored credibility/legitimacy. If a book declared something self-evidently false to be true - for example, that pigs can be cows, and cows can be pigs - there would be no reason to censor it, because anyone with a modicum of intelligence would understand how inane such claims are. The author of such a publication loses their credibility in the reader's mind, and ends up effectively censoring themselves. On the other hand, censoring such a piece of literature has the opposite effect: it makes people interested, as we are rather curious as a whole. 'Why is this book being censored? Maybe there's something to it...'.

Maybe I should amend my original position. Education, true education, and the ability to critically think, are the best forms of censorship, and should be practiced by all.

THIS IS WHAT CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED LOOKS LIKE!

In true (Anglo)-Canadian fashion, I blame the French.

Sorry, my caps lock was stuck on for some reason. I think it had something to do with POTUS’ rally.

1: Smith’s Wealth of Nations plays a central role in my doctoral dissertation, which I hope to finish soon so I CAN LEAVE THIS HELLHOLE OF A SOCIALIST UTOPIA.

2 & 3: I’ve read enough Plato during quarantine to know Socrates didn’t leave behind any writings 😉 and with good reason! Anyone can take a passage out of context and use it to justify anything. That’s why Plato wrote dialogues, at least they can try to speak for themselves. But even then, look at how many people completely misunderstand the brilliantly ironic Republic; look at how many people think Plato advocated for a despotic, censorious, Orwellian government when this was the very thing he was trying to avoid. I have a theory that Marx and Engels were so inspired after reading the first 6 books of The Republic that they never bothered to finish the damn thing, which is how we ended up with communism.

4: I’m Orthodox, and an ordained reader in my Church! While my Greek is still quite shoddy, I’ve read enough of the Bible to know I haven’t read enough, not nearly enough, and even if I had a thousand years, it wouldn’t be enough. My interest in Plato was actually sparked by my reading of the early Church Fathers!

5: At least in the areas of economics, Greek philosophy, and theology, I’m aware of the extent of my ignorance. This is an area where my ignorance is so great that I don’t even know where to begin – I’ve read Federalist 1 and 39, and knew I was too far out of my league to try making sense of them on my own. Can you recommend any resources to help this unenlightened pede come to a better understanding? Videos, lectures, annotated guides?

6: Hobbes, yes, and the antidote found in Locke. Although I must confess, I don’t exactly subscribe to the notion of tabula rasa, but I’m also far more well-versed in classical Greek philosophy (and Roman – Aurelius’ Meditations are nothing short of inspired) than I am in Enlightenment-era philosophies.

And now we arrive at the fundamental difference between Canada and America. Up here, our rights come from The Queen, and are “subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society” (S.1 of our Charter, the first part of our “Constitution”). Meaning rights such as ‘free speech’ or ‘freedom of assembly’ can be curtailed in the best interests of “a free and democratic society”. Even better, we have S. 33, which allows Parliament (Congress) to override portions of the Charter. Imagine if Congress had the ability to suspend certain sections of the Constitution, and then laugh at the notion of ‘God-given rights’. Up here, you see, our rights come from the government, and can therefore be taken away from the government. You can literally go to jail for ‘hate speech’. In the States, as far as I understand, your rights preexist government, and so the government (theoretically) can’t take them away from you.

What can a Canadian do? The same as anyone from any other country on Earth has done over the past 250 years – cast a wishful gaze towards America, the ‘city set on a hill’, and hope and work towards the opportunity to live in a country where liberty is not merely an illusion. I’ve seen the Reagan quote on TDW a lot – “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth” – and it’s not hyperbole. There’s literally no other country out there that believes that Man, created in the image and likeness of God, is endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights, among which are the rights to life and liberty – and how much less do they believe that governments are instituted among men to secure these rights! Perish the thought.

So, please, don't stop fighting. For yourself, and for your fellow Americans, if not for the rest of the world.

SURELY, ONE OF US IS WORTH MORE THAN TWO OF THEM!?