The Discourse is a Commons (And It Sucks We Need To Do Better)

It is ironic yet completely intuitive why ideologies propounding infinite and indiscriminate tolerance are embraced in the mainstream, endlessly calling for more tolerance and understanding, of every last conceivable category they can think up, while there is manifestly too much tolerance. Or perhaps, there is too much tolerance for some things, and not enough tolerance of others. Who can say. But we can certainly admit - in fact, we must, for the sake of our sanity - that the discourse sucks because it's full of people who are not only bad actors, but dumb actors. As a society we should not be so tolerant about how we treat participants in the discourse, because it is a commons and it influences us all. We should hold speakers to a higher standard, and absolutely we should exclude those who cannot meet that standard.

This might seem cruel to some, but it is far crueler to promote participation in the discourse by people who are simply not up to it. Not everyone has a unique, meaningful lived experience that can contribute to every issue. Those trying to manipulate public opinion by promoting people whose only meaningful contribution is an emotional appeal void of reason or logic (right or wrong they may be on the issue) are essentially leading like a general from the back, sending the cannon fodder in to absorb retaliation by the opposing forces. It is the attitude of a craven and corrupt authority.

If those promoting certain voices for their emotional appeal could persuade on reason and logic, they would - they cannot, either because humans are too stupid to achieve reason and logic on such issues at scales, or because they literally are unable to argue straightforwardly for it because they don't actually believe it. The fact they choose to promote intellectual kindergarteners to the committee is because they wouldn't get their way with smart people. There is no other reason for the tactic to be used in a democracy. I expect a congressperson or a mayor or a governor to be able to elucidate and defend their policy choices on the grounds of our prevailing liberal cultural norms. If they will not, they are doing their constituents a disservice, essentially by trying to emotionally bully them.

Dumb, emotional people should not influence decisions about government policy. They shouldn't be placed in the discourse by those with the intelligence to manage engaging it on their own. Those who are too stupid to meaningfully contribute to the discourse can only pollute speech standards and drag us all down. Imagine trying to have a high level discussion with someone else, but a literal child is throwing a fit and rolling on the floor screaming and crying. Hard to get anything done. That is why discourse is stagnant in the United States. It is why, for all the energies we apparently have for discourse all day long in every possible venue, 99% of that energy is wasted or counter-productive.

We literally just cannot have a smart conversation because there are too many idiots who won't shut up and feel like their dumb uninformed opinion should matter. Well it doesn't and we shouldn't pretend. We are literally killing our society by not allowing ourselves to have adult discussions.

If someone tries to run a race, but their leg is broken, they should sit it out and wait until their leg is healed to run again. If they try running, they will only harm themselves. Plus, it makes the other competitors feel bad, who will feel obligated to "go easy" and so not apply themselves fully, or else look like jerks going full out against an opponent who can't possibly keep up. People who are traumatized concerning some issue, like someone with a broken leg, is not up to running a race. Researching and crafting policy to address complicated social issues is intensive.

You can't expect to settle on the best policy if your decision is influenced by trauma. Those with trauma and those with intellectual drawbacks should not be included. They should be politely but firmly excluded from discourse. Discourse is for healthy adults. If you are not an adult or you are not healthy, you should not participate. We will not generate any meaningful collective resolution of certain ongoing cultural conflicts until the children shut up and the adults can figure things out.