HIGHLAND, UT | 15 July 2008 | When most people hear the word tyrant, they think of Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin. They may think of overzealous bureaucrats or demanding city officials or HOA presidents. But how many would consider the sweet neighbor down the street with an entitlement attitude; or even themselves? Yet, some of the greatest violators of freedom never fire a shot, never pass a law. They simply dictate from within their own world, imposing their own will upon those around them through guilt trips and subtle demands. These people violate principle without ever knowing it. Such a story has recently surfaced where Cliff Kincaid, president of America’s Survival, Inc., cries foul against Matt Drudge for not selling him ad space on arguably one of the Internet’s most popular news concentration sites.

Kincaid reports he was “outraged over the rejection of the ads” and has subsequently sought to publicize his outrage to a number of mainstream news sources. He explained that “the public has a right to know that the popular Internet site is suppressing information on flimsy grounds.”

Kincaid created a report directly linking Obama to the “Moscow-controlled Communist Party USA.” The ads he wanted to place on the Drudge Report would have taken readers to Kincaid’s exposé, but reports say Drudge refused them due to the controversial nature of the content. Kincaid expresses his dissatisfaction with what he calls censorship. But this story has more to do with private property than with freedom of speech.

Key Points

• Amendment 1 to the Constitution states,

Congress shall pass no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.

• Matt Drudge is not Congress. He is not restricted in any way by the language of the First Amendment.
• Presses, radio and TV airwaves, Internet sites, all media, are owned by individuals.
• As owners of these information outlets, the individual has the agency to decide the content of every item. If he or she disagrees with the content, it is their right to reject it.
• A non-owning individual who demands the use of an owners medium is a tyrant.
• A possessor of seemingly important information who wishes to get the information to the world has many options. Some of those options include:
  • He may buy his own media.
  • He may buy time or space on someone else’s media who agrees with his point of view.
  • He may sell his information to someone who is capable of getting it published.
• If such a person does not succeed in the above, he reveals his tyrannical tendencies if he attempts to call the media owner a censor or not of the “free press.” The owner has the right to do with his air time or space as he wishes.

Conclusion

Practically the only Constitutionally protected individual right a tyrant wants to protect these days is the right to “free speech.” And then only if it protects his or her own right to free speech. Though Kincaid’s intentions may be noble—though his only desire is to get the information he believes to be true to as many individuals as possible—his outrage and his behavior reveals him as a tyrant, at least in his own little universe.

This country is suffering from a great sickness. The people in it believe they are entitled to everyone else’s stuff. Even those who otherwise believe in freedom and liberty, and eschew socialism and communism, fall into the trap of becoming confused in terms of private property. Just learning this one great principle and strictly striving to live accordingly would greatly improve the condition of this nation. It would reduce the chaos and confusion and improve order.

Action Items

1. Respect the ownership rights of others by recognizing their stewardship over the things they own.
2. If you have information you believe the world “has a right to know,” seek for non-tyrannical ways of publishing it.
3. Become the owner of media yourself.
   1. Start a blog site.
   2. Buy radio or TV time or stations.
   3. Start a newspaper or magazine.
4. Exercise your human life value by building relationships with people who possess these media so they will be more willing to work with you regarding these matters.

MRFC Principles:  (3, 4, 11, 12)

Sources

Drudge Censors Ads on Reports about Obama-Communism Link, News Blaze, July 1, 2008.

Censorship Starts with All-Powerful Drudge, So Much for a Free Press, The Student Operated Press, July 14, 2008.