Some weeks ago, it came to my attention that WordPress was beginning to censor protected political speech. Rumors suggested that they were specifically targeting supporters of President Donald Trump, possibly in an effort to manipulate the 2020 election. This came two years after WordPress changed its terms to silence anyone who makes fun of trannies.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t like Donald Trump, and that I think he has betrayed those of us who gave him a chance. I didn’t vote for Donald Trump in 2016, and I didn’t vote for him in 2020. That’s beside the point.
While I don’t care much about drag queens or transsexuals, I don’t see why they should be immune from criticism. My own personal feelings about the president and crossdressers are overshadowed by my hatred and disgust for the people who are presently trying to censor the internet.
One either allows for a free-flow of ideas, or he doesn’t, and the fact that WordPress has chosen to arbitrarily gag its users suggests that its own telos has reached an impassable contradiction. Therefore, I have decided not to continue to subsidize WordPress.
This is not a question of money. My fees here are miniscule. I see it as a moral problem. The people who attempt to deny us all our free speech are our deadly enemies, and I have no interest in throwing them any money, however trivial the cost.
Aside from all these reasons, I’m also somewhat burnt out on posting, and my lack of activity here is a fair illustration of this. I suppose part of the ennui is just part of getting older. Much of it is an improvement in my own material conditions. Finally, there’s only so many essays one can write about skank-ho wimminz before he has said all there is to be said.
I am going to hire someone to move the domain name, and attempt to point it here. I am going to let this blog revert to its “free” format. A lot of very talented people (Derek, etc.) have contributed content here, and I think it serves the public interest to have it stay up as long as possible. I may format the content into a pdf file, if I feel it would be useful.
V5K2C2 has attempted to forward discussion of issues which are vital to our democracy, in an attempt to foster an open society, and to build the vision of a more equitable world. All the material here is the collective property of all men, in every nation, and is published without copyright. This blog was made possible by the enthusiastic support of its readers and authors, the commitments of good men who donated their time, and the collaboration of its partners on other blogs. I thank everyone who read here.
Thanks for all of the entertainment and information.
The outright censorship of certain views on open display over the last six months was amazing, given that it was taking place in the US. I foolishly thought there would be laws protecting freedom of speech. For example, Twitter banned the account for the New York Post (I think; maybe the Times?) for several days after they printed an article on Biden. Then Twitter also blocked any tweets that linked to that newspaper article.
Surely Twitter was violating the terms that allow them to claims they are merely a platform. So why didn’t someone find some offensive tweets, use the newspaper-banning example above as proof that Twitter is not merely an unbiased platform, and sue Twitter?
Same for Google shaping search results. Same for WordPress implicitly saying they allow positive speech for transsexuals but then “[changing] its terms to silence anyone who makes fun of trannies”.
Maybe they get away with it because lawyers cost too much to pursue a lawsuit for no more reason than justice? I certainly would not give up my house to pay for a lawsuit to hit Twitter… especially as I am sure they would not be forced to do any more than say, “sorry, we won’t do it again”.
Thanks for your posting efforts Boxer. It has been nice to be a guest here; I appreciate it. I enjoyed the well-thought out but often conflicting views.
Conflicting views without intelligent thought behind them are annoying and useless, but I have learned a few things here, in addition to being entertained.
I.m also somewhat burnt out on posting, and my lack of activity here is a fair illustration of this. I suppose part of the ennui is just part of getting older
I understand. I was planning to post regularly… but between life, work, and a few new projects I have taken on, I have not made time. My brief experiences have helped me to appreciate the efforts of those who do run blogs for months or years, not that I did not appreciate them already.
I wish you well in your future projects. And mostly I hope you will come to repentance and accept Jesus as Lord. I consider you a friend and wish the best for you.
Thank you for creating an environment in which intelligent discussion could be had and letting those of us who are not as intelligent sitting in as long as we are respectful. I wish you the best in your endeavors.
A man who didn’t know me from Adam who just defended some of my views, understood my plight, and just listened. You have my email Boxer, and I do hope you will continue to drop me a note now and then. My home in California is always open to you of you find yourself in Fresno.
Props on you, feel free to drop me a line
Boxer, let me know what hosting service you find. I’m not yet ready to leave WordPress but I do like the idea of mirroring my blog to a private yet online backup. That way, when my turns comes to be shut down I can change one setting on “GQ2” and be back in business before Mister Censor is back from lunch.
Antifragility!
It is unsurprising that WordPress is kicking up their censoring efforts. This is mirrored on every social media platform (e.g. Twitter; Facebook). On a completely unrelated note, for nearly 18 years, a Google search of my name would find me on the first page of results, typically the first and/or second result. For the first time ever, I can only be found beginning on the third and fourth pages. I’m wondering if censorship is the explanation.
As far as my content here, I hope it finds a way to stay up, but if it is ever taken down, I’d repost the material on my own blog from my offline backups. I wish you the best in moving to a better host.
Fare thee well, Boxer. I enjoyed the few interactions we had, and I wish you the best in your future endeavors.
I’ll definitely check out the new site when it pops up.
That’s interesting…I tried searching your name on google, bing, yahoo, and duck duck go. All four gave identical results, but your blog was not on the first page of any of them.
All the best to you, Boxer. I certainly understand where you’re coming from. It’s sort of a paradox that, as thing grow more “interesting” by the day, we all still have lives to live and not enough quality time to spare for commentary on the interesting times we live in.
Echoing Gunner Q, if you happen to find an alternative hosting site/platform that is a viable alternative to WordPress, let us know. Meanwhile, thank you for continuing to share all that you’ve produced here!
I miss Dalrock. Sad to see you go as well.