As we watch the world we built seem to be torn apart before our very eyes, it’s becoming clear to more and more people that  free speech is more important now than it has ever been.

Rising fuel prices and the onset of inflation in a down market have gotten the attention of people who don’t think much about the value of their freedoms when times are good… but there is so much more at stake here. Manipulation of our money supply, our broken democratic process, collapse of our social institutions, the undue influence of corporations, wealthy oligarchs and special interest groups in government, the erosion of our individual rights and personal health, the safety of our children and of our society as a whole… these threats have come one after the other, escalating the sense that something somewhere has gone very wrong.

Issues like these have been with us in one form or another for a long time… they’re nothing new. What is new is the level of effort… and acceptance… of silencing those who would speak out against them. In the 1960s we saw the rise of the citizen activist… in that decade, people who felt our government was taking a turn down a dark path rose up and organized to use their voices, their creativity and at times their own bodies to bring attention to the issues of their day, creating an entirely new culture in the process.

But today… somehow… that spirit of the value and importance of regular people speaking truth to power seems to have been lost. Today it feels like it’s something akin to a crime to speak out against the government, the corporations, the banks and any person or group who has been granted a “protected” status by the powers that be. To speak out is often treated like a real crime and some people who do speak out are arrested, imprisoned and have their reputations destroyed in the public eye. But even more often the act of speaking out is considered a social offense which is judged and punished by those around us… the very people who most need to hear what’s being said.

Speaking out used to be something we cheered for and looked up to people for doing… buttoday, if you’re not repeating the “acceptable” narrative that’s being broadcast by the mainstream media, it makes people uncomfortable and gets the speaker branded as a paranoid “conspiracy theorist”… and it can cost you your online voice, your job, access to your finances and even get you thrown out of your community entirely.

What happened to us?

Well, each of us may have our theories, but what’s important is that we push back against this trend and resist the pressure to remain silent, to parrot the talking points of the TV news, to go along to get along and to support the current thing. That doesn’t mean we have to be against everything… but it does mean that we have to think for ourselves, talk with each other, and be ready to say something if we think there’s a problem. And boy, are there some problems that need to be talked about. The good news, though, is that freedom isn’t something we need someone else to give us… all we have to do in order to be free is just choose to be it.

At Flote, we believe in this simple equation: Free speech plus free markets equals free people. We choose not to be told what we can see or hear, say or think. We choose not to be forced to use a corrupt system of money and finance where the game is rigged against us. We choose not to mindlessly ingest the stories, products and panaceas offered, sold and, ultimately, forced upon us by corporations and our government. Most of all we choose not to cower in our comfortable prisons, keep our mouths shut and pretend to be grateful that we’re allowed to keep living on this planet beneath those who call themselves the authorities.

If you believe that freedom is the problem and want to stay in your safe zones while you shame free people by calling us “-ists” and “-phobes” and say our ideas, experiences and beliefs are conspiracy theories, that’s fine. We can take it. But, on the other hand, if you want to hear and speak freely about what the governments, corporations and self-styled “opinion leaders” of the world have tried to keep hidden from you, then turn off your television, log out of your mainstream social media accounts and join Flote. We will welcome you with open arms.

Freedom isn’t easy and sometimes it’s not pretty either… but being free to speak your mind and to hear what other people just like you are saying… it’s worth it.

Link: https://www.joinflote.com