Shhh.
It started slowly. My closest friends knew my general opinions on politics, culture, etc. Some friends knew - and continue to know - to more depth. Some friends agree with me to a large extent, some fight me fiercely. I love those fights, those debates. There’s no winning - there’s opinion, and there are facts; facts that we’ve each either unwittingly cherry-picked, or unwittingly been duped into believing. Naturally I believe myself to do far less cherry-picking, and to have been duped much less than those I fight with, as I’m sure they believe the same of themselves. I imagine we are each both wrong and right, to some degree.
As the narrative dominated by the media and the leftist political arm began to spin of further and further away from true liberalism, something noticeably changed. We had been trending strongly this direction for some time, but toward the end of 2019 political and cultural discourse took on a sort of twilight zone atmosphere. A full hush came over the crowd.
Opinions began to either fall completely in line with popular narrative, completely opposed popular narrative, or they were non-existent. The conversation was over. The conversation had been over in journalism and media for a long time, but even the interpersonal conversation ended. The time for debating, the time for thinking, was over; you must make a choice. Right, Left or Quiet.
And then COVID. And then George Floyd. Protests. Riots. Murders. If it felt there was little room for a different opinion before, it now seems impossible.
Silent Screams
There are times when silence says everything. This is not one of those times. The idea of the silent majority is, I think, partially true. While I don’t think those that are silent are a monolith of similar thoughts, I do think that most people choose not to broadcast those thoughts. The majority of people are not loudly outspoken about their opinions.
There are a lot of reasons for this - some people think opinions should be kept to themselves or a small circle purely based on principle, some don’t like the discomfort and/or don’t like to cause discomfort, some maybe just haven’t made up their minds. I’m sure there are thousands more reasons, but the most insidious right now is fear. Fear of ridicule, fear of abandonment, fear of retaliation. Even a fear that one’s own family or closest friends will walk away from them, or that they will be fired for their thoughtcrimes. I have feared the last two in particular. And sometimes still do.
I suppose because I tested the waters slowly yet publicly, people began to test the waters with me. There are 6 different people who often message me on social media when I post something that they can’t publicly agree with. These are people I know, not strangers. Almost every liberal friend I have has confessed a “wrong” opinion that they can’t say out loud to most other people they know. Multiple co-workers have done the same.
None of this wrongthink is anything that would have made most of us bat an eye a few years ago. These aren’t misogynistic, racist (no, they aren’t) or evil people. They don’t want harm to come to people. They simply have a different opinion on some part or parts of what is happening in the world, society or politics. My friends who are Christian know this all too well. I promise you know far more Christians than you think, they just don’t feel safe making it known.
But the temperature outside right doesn’t allow for this difference of opinion. It’s all or nothing. If one believes racism is bad, and people need to do better, then they are required to believe in the entire narrative and in all proposed methods of combating racism. If I believe women can be whatever kind of woman they choose to be, then I must believe in telling women that all their choices are equal and good for them and that we are not different than men. We’re not allowed to educate or be educated on the effects our choices may have on us, and how those effects differ from men. These ideas are blasphemy.
Perhaps because I am a person who tires in being told what to do, and certainly how to feel, or because I mentally fight a “fuck it, come at me” attitude every moment of the day so that eventually something has to give; but I can’t accept this way of living in the world anymore. No one should. And no one should make it worse by not allowing the people around them to have a different opinion. We shouldn’t do this simply because it’s wrong, but also if for no other reason than if the wind shifts, you may suddenly be the one doing the wrongthinking without having changed your mind at all.
I also recognize that my opinions may cost me some friends, it’s even possible it could cost me a job, a career. I hope this isn’t the case, but it is possible. The risk is necessary. It’s necessary for the principle, but also necessary for those that have to be quiet. Not everyone can risk their job, they may have families that depend on them. Not everyone has figured out how to use their voice. If I can stand the risk, if I can use my voice, then at this point I don’t have a choice in the matter.
That’s a long way of saying that you are not wrongthinking. There is no such thing, and it’s a good idea to be wary of anyone who believes that wrong thoughts or opinions exist at all.