Self-censorship is surrender. We have no plans to consider either, but we need your help.
When it comes to sex — that is, the biological distinctions between males and females — we at National Review won’t lie to you.
We won’t unthinkingly deploy recently invented nonsense words (such as “cisgender”), designed to baffle honest men and women about obvious truths that ought not be controversial. We won’t roll over for the sort of activists who, given the slightest opportunity, will swiftly and comprehensively dismantle all sex-based policies and protections, sacrificing women and children at the altar of gender ideology.
The lily-livered may have given up, but not us! To paraphrase Mel Gibson paraphrasing William Wallace: Fight back, and we may be trashed online. But while these cultural oppressors may attempt to take our reputations . . . they will never take our COMMON SENSE! Or, consider the immortal words of the late Magdalen Berns, a heroic warrior in the fight against gender extremism: “There’s a lot more to worry about than being called silly names.”
So, do not fear, we are with you in this battle. We will never stop defending such American principles as free speech and your right to raise your own children. But to do so, we do need your help — our current webathon, which ends in a few days, seeks the support of our readers to defray the shocking costs that come when you are in the business of defending principles (my bosses tell me our goal is $350,000, which I am confident is low considering the Michael Mann lawsuit alone, even with last week’s favorable ruling).
You’ve probably heard people say that cancel culture and wokeness are overhyped. Calm down (the thinking goes), it’s only Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head! Such critics are often persuaded by the mainstream media’s editorial pages, a mesh of spiderly spin, usually according to the formula: “Dumb Conservatives Freak Out Over Something Trivial!” But who are the real cultural aggressors here?
Consider the new McCarthyism for those on the right, as evidenced by the firing of a Disney actress over a social-media post. Or the blind spots woke orthodoxy enables, such as the appallingly dishonest attack against Senator Rand Paul for having the nerve to question the nominee for assistant health secretary on what is shaping up to be one of the biggest medical scandals of modern times (so-called transgender children).
There is another danger: The increasing pressure on ordinary, hardworking Americans and their children to self-censor honestly held beliefs. This soft tyranny is reinforced by the total lack of forgiveness in our culture when someone — yes, even a 15-year-old girl — says or does something politically insensitive or inappropriate. College campuses run amok with this kind of crushing and condemnatory woke orthodoxy, as has been dispassionately and rigorously documented by social scientists such as Eric Kaufmann and the moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt.
Lest we forget it: Self-censorship is surrender. So, what would be of practical help in the day-to-day struggle of ideas? How about reliable coverage laying out the facts and providing first-rate conservative analysis?
At National Review we have so much to offer. There’s John McCormack’s stellar reporting, particularly his coverage of the Equality Act. And Michael Brendan Dougherty and Charles C. W. Cooke’s witty take-downs of various progressive doctrines and excesses. And all under the steadfast helmsmanship of our editor in chief, Rich Lowry.
And yet, National Review would be nothing at all without you — our loyal and generous readers. We appreciate your moral support enormously. We also rely on your financial support. So, please do consider supporting us and the work that we do — for you, with you, for us. Donate here. Thank you. Now, courage! And onward!
