As the crisp fall air finally drops the temperatures in our beloved Swamp, we can mark the normal rites of passage. A Gators Homecoming victory at Florida Field, a full week of holiday before finals and graduation and the promise of cold mornings and warm sunny afternoons. We can count the abnormalities, too. UF appointed a new interim president, Vanderbilt football is the toast of the SEC and creeping into your consideration is when am I free to speak my mind? What?!
If only Vandy’s prospects were the wildest thing happening. Instead, our society is splintering into approved government loyalty, rancorous resistance or indifference to it all.
I’ll use the UF president’s search as an example of all three. First, there were the government loyalty tests by Donald Trump Jr. and Byron Donalds, a gubernatorial candidate against the unanimous academic nominee, Dr. Santa Ono. Then, the raucous reply from the Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini backed their maligned candidate in opposition to the government litmus exam. Finally, the stunning indifference as members of the Board of Governors tried to shake hands with the people they just hosed like it was the end of an SEC rivalry game — not an affront to the academic freedom of Florida’s flagship university.
All over this country, we are being asked to accept government propaganda, silence our thoughts and act in accordance with someone else's idea of right and wrong. Whether you are being told what government activities you cannot speak on or else you’ll lose your job, or an academic being told research funding is no longer available based on ideological grounds, the values of free thought and speech are under attack.
It’s not just any one person; I believe it’s far worse than that. It is the slow societal disassociation from values that our ancestors once built their lives around: the freedom to read for ourselves, ponder the truth and act on our beliefs.
Students of history might well point out none of this is particularly new. For thousands of years, men with political power have exerted total control over honest thought and courageous action. But what is new? Cambridge Analytica proved stratified algorithmic political messaging could sway voters on important social issues. The acceleration of artificial intelligence allows for the absolute proliferation of political messaging into any household of any culture that has the latest technology. How can we think or act freely when we are constantly inundated with nonsense left, right and center of our minds? Moreover, how can we be free if we are not able to act on what we think because the government won’t approve it? I think the answers to these questions depend upon each individual.
In times like these we desire to look for leaders. While the time for following new leaders will surely come, I believe it is more important now that you follow your own guide. It will be vital if you want to speak freely. Perhaps you’re going home for the holidays and you’re afraid to speak there. Or maybe you’re hosting Byron Donalds and you’re afraid to ask for his stance on the academic and partisan independence of state universities. If you ever feel scared to speak your mind, you need only take a deep breath, close your eyes and remember it is not the government or even your loved ones that gives you freedom of speech — rather the proof of your existence matched with conscience and values in the face of intimidating odds.
David Arreola is a former Gainesville city commissioner and mayor pro tempore.
