Censureship; the new censorship – without government assistance.

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I’ve always wanted to insert a word into the modern vernacular and have settled on tah-dah -censureship. There is no definition of censureship available on the web. Up until now, it appears to be a misspelling of censorship so, in light of recent events, I humbly offer this definition.

Definition:

Censureship -The freedom certain individuals feel to censure or ridicule others for their political or personal views aired in the public domain; without providing a scrap of evidence.

Recently, I have seen an upswing in this form to communication, particularly in the mainstream and social media. We no longer hold differing views; we bully anyone with an alternate view into submission. I caught myself doing it today to someone who doesn’t know any better. Yikes!

Originally the preserve of talk back shock jocks, it has crept into our lexicon through the back door through the normalisation of cruelty, through the gradual syphoning off of our rights; through being made to scrabble for the last crumbs off the last piece of an ever decreasing pie left to us our wealthy corporate overlords. They are winning the battle for our minds and dividing us so we are conquered before we even enter the coliseum.

I have many friends from both sides of our two party preferred political parties in Australia who assume I am on the other side. This suits me because I became a political atheist after working for both the left and the right. I witnessed their complete lack of morals and ethics and the disdain they hold for the ‘unwashed masses’; their lack of respect for laws that should apply to all of us; their farcical approach to separation of powers under the Westminster system; their craven cronyism and their slavering greed for money and power. Where are our statesmen and women?

We don’t need a government to censor us or in Victoria’s case gag us, because we have an army of Murdoch/Bolt readers and Alan Jones listeners ready to slap down anyone whose view deviates from their own. There are even memes dedicated to this topic.

One of the first actions of the Abbott government was to reform Section 18c of the Antidiscrimination Act.

(1)  It is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if:

(a)  the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and

(b)  the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other personor of some or all of the people in the group.

Coincidence, or an act of political bastardry?

Now, I don’t tell anyone to stop posting interminable pictures of cats, food, their feet at beaches or their trout pout, so where in hell do they get off in telling me that Facebook isn’t to be used for political discussion? Well I say fuck off if you don’t like it, I will not be censured or censored.