Adam Bates
The way the right weaponizes its victimhood complex would be funny if it weren't so dangerous. Just listening to rightwingers talk about this Spotify thing, I can't help but notice how much victim language they use in situations without any actual victim.
Neil Young did not attempt to "silence" Joe Rogan. Neil Young doesn't have, has never had, and will never have the power to silence Joe Rogan. If Spotify booted Joe Rogan, he would not be silenced. He would go to another platform or self-publish his podcast. That is the opposite of silent.
It is not "censorship" for a private actor to refuse to associate with another private actor he finds repugnant. It is not "an assault on free speech" for a private actor to refuse to associate with another private actor he finds repugnant.
What the right calls "free speech" is in reality the obliteration of free association.
Listening to these people characterize an entirely private dispute between two contractors and an employer like it's the goddamn Stasi closing down a newspaper is otherworldly.
These people are so desperate to be victims that they turn every single benign dispute into an attempt at martyrdom. You could write a book about this. Of course they'd probably have their schoolboards ban it.
