DEFUND THE THOUGHT POLICE

Dear Thought Police:

 

Don’t tell me what I (or any other artist) can or cannot write, or say, or think, or express.

Don’t squelch debate in favor of censorship, or require punishment for discussing ‘wrong’ ideas.

Don’t promote a system where lemmings are rewarded for ‘acceptable’ opinions and resisters are punished for pushing back or simply asking questions.

Don’t set yourselves up as the arbiters of ‘truth.’

Don’t criminalize dissent from the hive mind consensus.

Don’t demand compliance as the price of participation in open society.

And don’t be surprised if those of us who value freedom and originality refuse to comply.

 

Art must follow its own unencumbered path, and creativity chart a pilgrim course. Free expression produces a bounty of riches, while restrictive rules — however well intended — starve the soul. This is the time to speak, to listen, and to share. And, most of all, to push back against censorship. 

 

That is all.