This article is a first-person confession from the author, who has changed their stance on free speech culture. The author admits to previously being overly critical of free speech advocates, but after reading works from thinkers like Elon Musk and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, they now see criticism as censorship. They argue that speech should be protected even if it offends or makes others uncomfortable, citing examples such as arrest warrants and court verdicts as forms of censorship. The author specifically mentions their previous scorn for Musk's endorsement of an anti-Semitic theory on his platform X, and how they have come to realize the importance of debating rather than abusing opposing viewpoints.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
I confess!
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I → confes → ?
I have been wrong, and have wronged many.
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I → wrong → many
I have called false things true and have slandered the upstanding as evil.
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I → call → evil
I have expressed prideful, stubborn resistance to the concept of free speech culture, and been an apologist for the rankest cancellation.
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I → express → cancellation
I have indulged in snobbish skepticism of the comparative risks that sophomore comp lit majors pose to the very freedoms that better men than I have fought and died to protect.
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men → indulge → I
Now I see the light.
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I → see → light
Great beams of it have shone upon my eyes, cast by the best thinkers of our society.
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beams → shine → society
The insubstantial line I imagined between government force and private criticism has vanished like a mist.
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I → imagine → mist
Now I see.
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I → see → ?
“You’re under arrest” is speech.
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’re → ’re → arrest
“We the jury find the defendant guilty” is speech.
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defendant → find → ?
“You’ve been found liable for defamation” is speech.
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You → find → defamation
We all agree those things are censorship.
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things → agree → ?
So how can brutal speech like “racist” and “antisemite” and “lunatic” and “disconcertingly puffy serial divorcee” and “I think I will chose to advertise elsewhere” not be censorship?
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I → think → racist
It took better men — titans of America, really — to show me.
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It → take → me
Elon Musk, billionaire scientific genius and social philosopher and equestrian innovator has explained it.
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Musk → explain → it
As it was necessary to destroy Bến Tre to save it, it’s necessary to sue journalists for criticizing the way you exercise freedom of speech, to protect your right to utter that speech without anyone reacting negatively.
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anyone → destroy → speech
It’s simple, and pure, like a koan.
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It → ’ → koan
I am indebted, too, to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — the stalwart of the speech-defending Federalist Society — who showed me that it’s necessary to use the apparatus of government to protect free speech by criminally investigating people who oppose and suppress free speech by criticizing how someone else uses it.
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someone → defend → it
Musk and Paxton have converted me; they have immersed me in the baptismal font of free speech culture.
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they → convert → culture
I see that my focus has been wrong.
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focus → see → ?
I have been preoccupied with petty concerns — is this speech protected by the First Amendment? — and not with the more fundamental and important question: “does this speech make someone else feel uncomfortable about what they just said?”
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they → preoccupy → what
I see now I was wrong, badly wrong, shamefully wrong, about recent events on Elon Musk’s platform X.
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I → see → X.
I reacted with scorn and contempt and abuse when Elon Musk endorsed the notorious anti-Semitic theory that Jews are importing foreign minorities to undermine the West.
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Jews → react → West
I engaged in abuse, not debate.
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I → engage → abuse
But in a civilized society, that’s not how we proceed.
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we → ’ → society
We debate.
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We → debate → ?
Until we know all of the facts, how do we know whether or not Jews are pushing hatred of white people and importing hordes of minorities to undermine Western countries?
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Jews → know → countries
Did these critics, these journalists, these bloggers, these advertisers, show that they cared about truth by saying “interesting point, Elon — which Jews are doing that, and how are they doing it, and are some of the minority hordes worse than others?”
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some → show → others
The debate would be enriched by the many thoughtful participants in the marketplace of ideas who have signified their eagerness for dialogue by paying $8 per month for a blue check.
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who → enrich → check
Instead, the scorn and abuse heaped on Elon Musk threatens to lead to less speech — to fewer people talking about how Jews are ruining America.
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Jews → heap → America
Trying to shun or shame Elon Musk for his speech is arrogant.
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Trying → try → speech
It supposes you know everything and can’t be wrong.
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you → suppose → everything
You believe that there is a not a cabal of Jews seeking to overthrow the Christian West by importing foreigners with different values.
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You → believe → values
You’re capable of being wrong.
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You → ’re → ?
You don’t know for sure what happens after we die.
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we → know → ?
You don’t know whether string theory is right.
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theory → know → ?
You can’t be sure which tax policy will produce the best results.
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policy → produce → results
You don’t know if Judy Blume actually died trying to sneak a guy named Ahmed into your garage.
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Blume → know → garage
So since you can be wrong — since you’ve been wrong before — where do you get off criticizing Elon Musk?
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you → get → Musk
…and 35 more, not listed.
