Fear

My fear is that we are locking-up personal expression "behind the counter" as though it were a magazine considered "obscene" or a dangerous drug component which might fall into the hands of a trafficker, and in that process, we are over-sanitizing the social-environment so that a mere conversational misspeak, an unformed thought, or a even a purposeful slight can start a contagion of offense in an audience whose tolerance has been compromised.  We are being protected by those ever-present, hovering "mothers" (male and female alike) cleansing everything with sanitary wipes, and in so doing, assuring that no one develops immunity to any offense no matter how slight...thereby assuring  that every offense is sufficient to attract violent defense.

As repulsive as some self-expressions are...the Westboro Baptists come to mind or uniformed neo-Nazi demonstrators at Holocaust memorials...repressing that ugliness with "law" or by brute force, is even more repulsive than the ugliness of the expressions repressed.  The final result of repression by law is a beyond-putrid, stinking fear...the stench of a quieted society, where the bowed head, the silenced voice, and wordless acceptance pass for courtesy.  When we shout down an unpopular or even absurd voice, we are covering over one of the greatest inventions of our species, free expression...the liberty to be ridiculous, the freedom to be absurd, the license to be irrational aloud.  At this rate of change in the cancel-culture the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court will be the sole locations where absurd expression is condoned.

For our own protection, we need to individually protect the right to self-expression, even when we personally disagree with the content...even when we can't see the value...even when the content is ugly, repulsive, and seemingly without merit. Silencing personal expression is the ultimate obscenity, even if harmony and contentment might result from the silence...fear is the great silencer, and it is mandatory silence which we should fear.