Most people want their lives to be easier. Thinking independently does not make your life easier; in fact, it makes your life harder. People who think critically do not choose to think critically. They cannot help but to think critically and independently. It’s just the way they were wired or trained. So, even if they wanted their lives to be easy, this tendency to think independently will make their lives harder. In a way, it’s a curse.
There is nothing courageous or hard about shouting out a dominant ideology. And, even if your ideology is a minority, as long as your immediate friends and neighbors hold the same ideology, it’s still safe and requires no courage to speak up.
In terms of courage, speaking up against Nazis now is the same as joining the chorus of Nazis during Nazi Germany. What they needed were the people who were willing to go against the dominant ideology and against their own friends and neighbors.
I often receive private messages saying they liked my essays but did not want to publicly say it because they did not want to get into trouble among their friends or coworkers. I understand their concerns and fears. I have them too. I don’t have anything against people who want to make their lives easier. The ones that bother me are those who shout dominant ideologies and think they are being courageous, and try to intimidate or suppress those who speak their mind against the dominant ideologies.
Let everyone speak their mind.
