“I dunno folks. Have we really gotten to the point where a controversial sentence or two can turn you into a pariah? I don’t really care anymore. I grew up in a college town, amidst protests & dissension, and it was considered healthy to question the prevailing narrative. I’m all for a process that separates the mediocre from the wise, working over time to allow for many viewpoints and a wide berth of opinion. Why has Vermont become so monolithic? In truth, it hasn’t. But while some cower in their homes afraid of a virus, others cower in their homes, afraid to say what they really think. This is an enormous problem, aptly labeled “cancel culture”. Please consider that when you want to attack, silence, obliterate or arrest someone who lives according to a completely different reference point of understanding, you need to check yourself. The world is not just what you perceive it to be. It is infinitely more complex and amazing, beyond your wildest dreams. And when we think of ourselves as the highest intelligent life form on the planet, or as Vermont’s most honorable, virtuous citizens, we are engaging in an exercise of self deception. If your comfort zone is narrowly defined by the consensus, if you own the airwaves, rub up against the governor, have the ear of progressive leadership; I sincerely pray for you during these dark days. For your road is filled with the pitfalls of ego and self righteousness, & optimal ignorance. You think your idyllic paradigm exists with no relationship to an increasingly authoritarian global system. You rage against those who violate your quasi-scientific, “mandated” rules of conduct. You claim to understand science as a forum for combative disagreement and lively discussion, while hysterically shutting down debate.”
