Not Without Incident: Questioning Big Brother's Platitudes

While I still have a certain level of respect for Shapiro and even Candace Owens, who herself is an extremist, that respect has waned dramatically over the past year and I cannot continue to support a company that refuses to engage intellectually with the issues we face as a society, and instead decides to channel Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, two despicable cretins who lived and breathed the culture wars. I am sad to have come to this decision. I hope The Daily Wire starts grappling with more serious issues, and that they stop spewing gasoline over the culture wars.

“On 9/11, we learned that perceived weakness in any form — economic, military or ideological — invites aggression from our enemies. One generation later, we are deliberately destroying our own energy policy, focusing on expanded and fiscally irresponsible welfare statism, cutting our military capacity and pursuing radical ideological dissolution.”[i]– Ben Shapiro

“I can’t believe conservatives soo mad about WAP,”[ii]– Cardi B

I have been a subscriber to The Daily Wire for a few years now, and this year will be my last. Starting this November, when my subscription expires, I will switch to other subscriptions. While I am not a conservative or on the right, I decided to subscribe to The Daily Wire because I am interested in consuming media and information from across the political spectrum. I am also subscribed to The National Review, and I have been delving into their special issue on the 20^th anniversary of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. While I do not agree with most of their arguments, it is especially important to read reflections from intellectuals and writers who were staunch advocates of the Iraq war, as some are reconsidering the usefulness of humanitarian interventionism and the limits of American power. While The National Review is an establishment Republican outlet just like The Daily Wire, they at least have a set of writers who are not leaning heavily into theocracy. This is the main reason that I am unsubscribing from The Daily Wire. Hosts like Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro, and Michael Knowles are extremist on social issues and although they do not openly advocate for theocracy, if we were to follow through on the social conventions they wish to impose, like banning gay marriage and broadening obscenity laws, the US would become a theocratic state. Their diagnosis of social degradation is overblown and the cries to simply revert to ‘traditional values’ are ridiculous.

People like Shapiro claim to be for liberty and freedom, unlike ‘the left’, and yet, they seek to micro-manage people’s lives for the apparent betterment of society. This gets to another huge problem with conservatives and especially commentators like Shapiro and Knowles. This is their constant referent ‘the left’. Who this refers to is unclear. Is it the Democratic party, who are a right-wing party who, if they ran in any other Western country, would be considered a far-right party. Is ‘the left’ people who write at The Washington Post or The New York Times, both establishment rags staffed by warmongers and fearmongers? According to The Daily Wire hosts, anyone who espouses social values they despise or who disagrees on fundamental questions is of ‘the left’.

Shapiro has a show that he does, The Sunday Special, and in one episode he speaks with Stephen Meyer, an advocate for intelligent design, which is a sophisticated term for creationism.[iii] According to Meyer, we humans were created by God, who then must be a magical mage, as the actual act of creation or the methods of said creator are rarely even alluded to let alone explained in depth. The point is Shapiro posits himself as a towering intellectual, but he holds to silly notions like intelligent design and a rigid conception of human morality. The Daily Wire incorporated Prager University, a clownish outfit that claims to have an interest in preventing children from being indoctrinated by ‘the left’, but are offering alternative indoctrination, that there’s a mage in the sky, and so forth. Dennis Prager, founder of Prager University, recently released a series on ‘the left’ and he makes moronic arguments like, ‘the left’, or in a favorite term of these pundits, ‘the secular left’, implying that not being religious is inherently immoral, believe that human nature is innately good, not that man is fallen as is described in the bible. This is hilarious, as I do not necessarily consider myself solidly on the left, I am secular, and I do not believe that human nature is innately good. Our long history of bloodshed and brutality proves that there is immorality within us and in many cases, we are predisposed to fend for ourselves at the expense of others or society. I have a dark view of human nature, and I think, as Thomas Hobbes argued, that the natural state of man is anarchy, and that government is a denial of this nature, so is religion.[iv] The caricatures that Prager, Shapiro, and Knowles create of ‘the left’ are not only silly but dangerous, as to refute many of their points, especially as it relates to fundamental issues like morality, is to be of the allegedly fatalistic and nihilistic secular left.

Prager claims to have read Pravda and many other left wing sources. Between all the hosts, I’d venture to guess that they have not engaged seriously with much of Hegel, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Rosa Luxemburg, Lenin, Sheldon Wolin, or contemporary Marxists and leftists like Wendy Brown or David Harvey. This is fine; however, a serious intellectual engages with all arguments and remains open to the possibility that they may be wrong and that their assumptions and their entire worldview could be faulty. Every time I read anything, I do my best to put aside my presumptions and my worldview is constantly tested. I have changed my mind on topics multiple times throughout my intellectual journey, and it is inevitable I will do so many more times. My subscription to The Daily Wire was part of this journey, but it is time to move on and I mean to disrespect to anyone at The Daily Wire.

Free Speech Defender Pretenders

“I don’t think censorship is the great evil that conservatives make it out to be,”[v]– Michael Knowles

The right, especially the religious right, are not on the side of free speech or liberty. Knowles, who wrote a book explaining the history of political correctness and its infusion into Western culture, argues in his conclusion that when he says that society must enforce standards and seek to implement “just and prudent censorship”, he is not advocating for ‘cancellation’ and he is not being like the overly censorious left, or as he outlines in the book, the politically correct.[vi] He makes some historical references to important thinkers who explicated on free speech, but did support some form of censorship in certain cases.[vii] Knowles points to John Milton, who wrote the seminal text Areopagitica, who in the text calls for the muzzling of Catholics, and he also refers to John Locke stating that those who do not believe in the existence of God should not be tolerated.[viii] This is supposed to help his case. Both Milton and Locke were wrong to propose censorship where they did. Knowles argues that since he is not calling for the banning of atheism, that makes him more liberal and tolerant than Milton and Locke, and then he goes on to write “Thus acquitted of “illiberalism,”[ix] No, not even close. Knowles proves his illiberalism when he writes that “As a prudential matter, conservatives must begin their case against political correctness with the practical tradition of free speech as it has existed in America. Such a defense would require that conservatives admit the necessity of just and prudent censorship. In particular, we would need to restore prohibitions against obscenity, which politically correct radicals have long exploited to arouse the people’s base passions and undermine their liberty, just as the Founding Fathers feared.”[x] The argument that we need to resort prohibitions against obscenity is absurd and illiberal. I discussed the case of Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl in a previous post, whose poem was the subject of an obscenity trial, where the argument from those seeking to ban Ginsberg’s work as legally obscene was that it did not have any artistic merit. We can expect similar cases to manifest again if we implement what Knowles is proposing here.

Senator Mike Lee of Utah proposed a bill to broaden obscenity laws and the response from many outlets, like Reason, is that it would effectively end the porn industry, but such a bill has vaster implications for society.[xi] Obscenity as a legal concept is ripe for abuse if expanded, and Knowles is evidently not opposed to censorship, he readily admits he is for it, so long as it is ‘just and prudent’. This echoes the censorship regime in Plato’s republic. As Knowles implies with his references to Milton and Locke, since people throughout history who made significant contributions to thought on politics and free speech also supported a form of censorship, it is a necessary regime to create and enforce. He says that politically correct radicals exploited obscenity laws to arouse our base passions, and this in turn undermines our liberty. It may undermine his concept of liberty, which is not liberty in any sense of the word, but it is necessary in a truly free society to be able to speak and express offensive and appalling ideas. Knowles is not alone in calling for a reinstatement of obscenity laws, as I noted, Mike Lee proposed a bill to redefine legal obscenity, and for mandating that porn sites tighten their age restrictions and verification processes.

The right is as opposed to free speech and expression as those they decry for cancelling conservatives and eroding religious freedom. If obscenity laws are expanded, it will not just be pornography that is banned, it will be any entertainment that excites or titillates. This will include hip-hop, my favorite genre of music. In the past few decades, many rap artists have been put on trial for delivering obscene lyrics or messages. Consider the case of 2 Live Crew, who were put on trial for obscenity in Florida over their album Nasty As We Wanna Be, or Ice-T and Body Count’s spat with the government and he label over their track “Cop Killer”, which was eventually taken off their debut album, and then president George H. W. Bush even got involved, naming the track in a speech and deeming it utterly offensive.[xii]

A more recent case is when Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s hit song, “WAP”, was released Shapiro did a reading of the lyrics and embarrassed himself by saying “Wet ass p-word”, instead of “Wet ass pussy”.[xiii] He and other conservative commentators ripped the track and the artists for lack of artistry. This is the point, in their minds, such music does not have artistic merit, which is what leads to work being classified as legally obscene. This will extend to film, drama, and other facets of entertainment and life. People like Knowles and Shapiro are illiberal. They spend all their time railing against an undefined left that is in their minds the secular scourge on society, and yet, in seeking to stamp out the apparent scourge of secular humanism, they will become authoritarian to do so. In this sense, they are not so far from Christian dominionists, who seek to turn America into a Christian nation and believe in angels.

The Daily Wire hosts may not all be Christians or believe in angels, but they do posit that America is founded on Judeo-Christian values, as is Western civilization writ large, and thus secularism is antithetical to these values, and it has supplanted them in recent decades. They preach about the morality of American imperialism and occupation. Shapiro repeatedly mentions Biden’s pullout of US troops from Afghanistan, pointing to it as a failure and a symbol of American weakness, one that is being seized as an opportunity by Russia and China.[xiv] These pundits argue, as other conservatives do, that 9/11 can only be interpreted as an attack borne out of hatred for American freedom and democracy, as stated at the time by George Bush. The notion that the projection of American evil in the Middle East in the form of ruthless military campaigns and clandestine operations aimed at regime change and destabilization were contributing factors is unthinkable, even though Osama Bin Laden was explicit in his letter outlining why he was carrying out the attacks that US imperialism and violence were a primary reason.

America and the West, to thinkers like Shapiro and Knowles, is uniquely great and the world must be remade in its image, as they believe man was created in God’s image. This results in a chauvinist, militaristic foreign policy that disregards other ideologies and non-Western theologies. When it comes to foreign policy, The Daily Wire is in favor of the status quo. I can tolerate this when it is balanced with reflection and rigorous debate, however, on issues like China, Russia, and the Middle East there is little to no debate or reflection. I am ardently opposed to militarism and chauvinism abroad. The Daily Wire are not alone in championing these foreign policy ideas, but I must follow my principles, and this is another part of the reason for my unsubscribing. It is more my desire to not want to fund establishment thinking as a whole than it is it coming specifically from The Daily Wire.

Conclusion

“But, as I am fond of saying, facts don’t care about your feelings, and the facts are undeniable: Breitbart News has become precisely the reverse of what Andrew would have wanted. Steve Bannon and those who follow his lead should be ashamed of themselves.”[xv]– Ben Shapiro

The Daily Wire passes itself off as a diverse stall in the marketplace of ideas, however, it is in fact an establishmentarian and increasingly theocratic stall selling Christian right propaganda, the prime example being the fight against secular leftism or secular humanism. These puritans, if they had their way, would ban many genres of music they consider harmful to society, like hip-hop and pop, they would outlaw abortion and not just gay marriage, but homosexuality, transition surgery even for adults, and religions like Islam and Hinduism would be marginalized in favor of Western religions. Intelligent design would also be pushed into schools as a viable alternative theory to Darwin’s theory of evolution. This may sound hyperbolic, but many of the statements and arguments made by right wing commentators hint at such actions, whether it’s the panic over the supposed rise of Satanism, the outrage over gay marriage as destructive to the institution of traditional marriage, or the lamentation over recent generations being less religious.

Western civilization does not have a God shaped hole, as some on the religious right would say. We have many problems, and magical thinking and the constant focus on culture war issues will not offer solutions to these problems. Unfortunately, The Daily Wire is seemingly more interested in magical thinking and inflaming the culture wars than the countless people sleeping under bridges across the country, or the people in the Rust belt who have been left behind by globalization and are overdosing and committing suicide.

Recently, in response to Hershey’s creating a gimmicky product line, Her-She’s, Jeremy Boering, the CEO of The Daily Wire, created his own gimmick, he and her chocolate. The he chocolate has nuts, but if you need to ask them which has nuts, “keep buying Hershey’s”.[xvi] This is like what he did when Harry’s Razors cancelled its sponsorship of The Daily Wire over a tweet from someone, and he created Jeremy’s razors.[xvii] This is so inane. What’s next, Jeremy’s washing machines? They should be more upset that corporations like Harry’s Razors and Hershey’s are exploitative, and yet they froth at the mouth over M and M’s being women or Hershey’s having a transgender woman be one of their spokespersons in an ad.

While I still have a certain level of respect for Shapiro and even Candace Owens, who herself is an extremist, that respect has waned dramatically over the past year and I cannot continue to support a company that refuses to engage intellectually with the issues we face as a society, and instead decides to channel Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, two despicable cretins who lived and breathed the culture wars. I am sad to have come to this decision. I hope The Daily Wire starts grappling with more serious issues, and that they stop spewing gasoline over the culture wars.

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[i] Shapiro, Ben. “America Is Forgetting 9/11.” Grand Forks Herald, September 18, 2022. https://www.grandforksherald.com/opinion/columns/ben-shapiro-america-is-forgetting-9-11.

[ii] Skinner, Tom. “Cardi B Mocks US Commentator Ben Shapiro for Reading of ‘WAP.’” NME, August 11, 2020. https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/cardi-b-mocks-us-commentator-ben-shapiro-for-reading-of-wap-2725798.

[iii] The Daily Wire. “Stephen C. Meyer | the Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 43.” http://www.youtube.com, March 24, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDSpLBNQk5I.

[iv] Hobbes, Thomas. Hobbes: “Leviathan.” Edited by Richard Tuck. 1651. Reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

[v] Newhook, Joshua. “‘Free Speech Has Gone Mad,’ Says Michael Knowles.” Hillsdale Collegian, September 23, 2021. https://hillsdalecollegian.com/2021/09/free-speech-has-gone-mad-says-michael-knowles/.

[vi] Knowles, Michael J. Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2021.

[vii] Knowles. Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds.

[viii] Knowles. Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds.

[ix] Knowles. Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds.

[x] Knowles. Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds.

[xi] Camp, Emma. “Sen. Mike Lee Wants to Ban Porn by Redefining ‘Obscene.’” Reason.com, December 20, 2022. https://reason.com/2022/12/20/sen-mike-lee-wants-to-ban-porn-by-redefining-obscene/.

[xii] Trakin, Roy. “2 Live Crew’s Obscenity Trial, Remembered by Luther Campbell and Doug Morris, 30 Years Later.” Variety, October 21, 2020. https://variety.com/2020/music/news/2-live-crews-obscenity-trial-remembered-by-luther-campbell-and-doug-morris-30-years-later-1234812588/., and Rowley, Scott. “‘S**T Was F**Ked Up’: How Body Count’s Cop Killer Predicted 2020.” Metal Hammer Magazine, March 26, 2022. https://www.loudersound.com/features/body-count-story-behind-cop-killer.

[xiii] Skinner. “Cardi B Mocks US Commentator Ben Shapiro for Reading of ‘WAP.’”

[xiv] Shapiro. “America Is Forgetting 9/11.”

[xv] Gold, Hadas. “Michelle Fields, Ben Shapiro Resign from Breitbart.” POLITICO, March 14, 2016. https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/03/michelle-fields-ben-shapiro-resign-from-breitbart-220709.

[xvi] Pritchett, Elizabeth. “Daily Wire’s Jeremy Boreing Offers Alternative to Hershey’s after Controversial International Women’s Day Ad.” Fox News, March 4, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/media/daily-wires-jeremy-boreing-alternative-hersheys-controversial-international-womens-day-ad.

[xvii] Werth, Timothy Beck. “The Daily Wire Announces, ‘Jeremy’s Razors’ Campaign as Part of Feud with Harry’s Razors.” SPY, March 23, 2022. https://spy.com/articles/grooming/hair/ben-shapiro-daily-wire-harrys-razors-1202839636/.

Bibliography

Camp, Emma. “Sen. Mike Lee Wants to Ban Porn by Redefining ‘Obscene.’” Reason.com, December 20, 2022. https://reason.com/2022/12/20/sen-mike-lee-wants-to-ban-porn-by-redefining-obscene/.

Gold, Hadas. “Michelle Fields, Ben Shapiro Resign from Breitbart.” POLITICO, March 14, 2016. https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/03/michelle-fields-ben-shapiro-resign-from-breitbart-220709.

Hobbes, Thomas. Hobbes: “Leviathan.” Edited by Richard Tuck. 1651. Reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Knowles, Michael J. Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2021.

Newhook, Joshua. “‘Free Speech Has Gone Mad,’ Says Michael Knowles.” Hillsdale Collegian, September 23, 2021. https://hillsdalecollegian.com/2021/09/free-speech-has-gone-mad-says-michael-knowles/.

Pritchett, Elizabeth. “Daily Wire’s Jeremy Boreing Offers Alternative to Hershey’s after Controversial International Women’s Day Ad.” Fox News, March 4, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/media/daily-wires-jeremy-boreing-alternative-hersheys-controversial-international-womens-day-ad.

Rowley, Scott. “‘S**T Was F**Ked Up’: How Body Count’s Cop Killer Predicted 2020.” Metal Hammer Magazine, March 26, 2022. https://www.loudersound.com/features/body-count-story-behind-cop-killer.

Shapiro, Ben. “America Is Forgetting 9/11.” Grand Forks Herald, September 18, 2022. https://www.grandforksherald.com/opinion/columns/ben-shapiro-america-is-forgetting-9-11.

Skinner, Tom. “Cardi B Mocks US Commentator Ben Shapiro for Reading of ‘WAP.’” NME, August 11, 2020. https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/cardi-b-mocks-us-commentator-ben-shapiro-for-reading-of-wap-2725798.

The Daily Wire. “Stephen C. Meyer | the Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 43.” http://www.youtube.com, March 24, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDSpLBNQk5I.

Trakin, Roy. “2 Live Crew’s Obscenity Trial, Remembered by Luther Campbell and Doug Morris, 30 Years Later.” Variety, October 21, 2020. https://variety.com/2020/music/news/2-live-crews-obscenity-trial-remembered-by-luther-campbell-and-doug-morris-30-years-later-1234812588/.

Werth, Timothy Beck. “The Daily Wire Announces, ‘Jeremy’s Razors’ Campaign as Part of Feud with Harry’s Razors.” SPY, March 23, 2022. https://spy.com/articles/grooming/hair/ben-shapiro-daily-wire-harrys-razors-1202839636/.