The New York Times - the main democratic newspaper in the United States - was at the center of a big scandal. Columnist and editor of the Opinion department, Bari Weiss quit and described the atmosphere in this publication, which for the sake of the war with Trump and the Republicans forgot the covenants of its founder, Adolf Ox. In 1896, he wrote that the NYT columns should become a forum for discussing all issues of public importance, and this requires the involvement of intelligent debaters of all political views and opinions.
The audience of Twitter, writes Bari, became the main censor of the newspaper. What she hates should be hateful to NYT authors and editors. But this is not only a matter of political struggle: it is surprising by what methods a liberal publication seeks to comply with tacit censorship.
The moment of the real explosion was the discussion of the publication of the column of the Republican Senator Tom Cotton, who, against the background of pogroms and looting, called for the introduction of troops to suppress the George Floyd riots. Not peaceful demonstrations (for a second!), But riots with robberies and robbery.
It was worth Mrs. Weiss to recall that there are different opinions in the USA, as she instantly became an outcast in her own editorial office. Ostracism looked stern: Bari was called a racist and a Nazi, her colleagues stopped talking to her, and the authorities who praised her for her courage simply allowed this hell to gain momentum.
Needless to say, self-censorship and an unspoken narrative full of hatred for an alternative point of view have become the main driving force of the editorial board. It is difficult now to say why to feed the public, already screaming: “Crucify!”, A new portion of hatred. But the feeling of one’s own selectness and superiority is clear. Here the NYT edition of America does not open.
When leaving, Bari wrote a large letter in which she described what was happening in the editorial office as a civil war. And here you can notice a very important phenomenon of modern society: intolerance of any other point of view reigns in the air of all new-fangled currents.
Once you aloud call into question the methods of #MeToo activists, LGBT rights activists or liberals, you are already invited to be crucified by the best people of this world.
Hatred drives Twitter and Facebook so much that once intellectuals like Arkady Babchenko start toss more and more fury coal into these steam boilers. The straps on which the monuments of historical figures of different eras are already hung are perfect for living people.
Over the past few days, we have learned the new disgusting parts of the life and leisure of our own liberals. Their hypocrisy does not bother. They crave lustration. So the problem of separating people according to their views is not new. And, as before, it is very dangerous.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.