Speaking Truth to Power is Tough, But Not Impossible
When it comes to the truth, everyone has their own perspective. People are skewed by their personal opinions and experiences, so unsurprisingly we use them to shape what we believe our truth to be. When a person is asked to tell their perspective, it is like asking someone for a story. A common saying when it comes to storytelling comes from infamous director Robert Evans’ documentary, The Kid Stays in the Picture. “There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth”, something that rings too close to reality now. We have learned what makes a good story, whether it is from reading out the events of your day to reiterating your entire life story to an audience of strangers. But that is the problem right there. We are so compelled by a story, that we do not even think about whether or not a story is true.
Our biggest source of these Grade A stories are through media, whether it be television news, print, or even app exclusive (shoutout to the Flipboard app I am never able to uninstall from my phone). Media in general is so wide in its scope, so of course we are seeing a many variety in information. As of right now, we are witnessing the height of speech in on a widely used public forum: social media. Social media is riddled with people of all origins, proving itself to be an outlet for people of all backgrounds, allowing essentially everyone a platform to say what they want. Taking that into consideration, let us apply it to the aspect of what free speech is. In Michel Foucault’s words, free speech can be translated back to the Greek form: parrhesia. Now the word parrhesia is truly beautiful due to its multiple applications, taking form in utter frankness, and then allowing absolutely anyone to speak what they believe is true simply because they believe it to be true. Now that right there…that is the problem. Sadly we still live in a world where people “twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts” (thank you, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes never goes out of style). This opens social media up as the perfect platform for people wanting to spew nonsense and claim that it is their right to do such.
The basis of parrhesia stems from how this is a form of rhetoric that was not meant to be utilized by those formally educated, but rather by the common folk, those that had the true ability to speak truth. You know, the people who probably needed to be heard the most because they were most likely the disenfranchised and needed the most help. Clearly that utilization has taken a new meaning as now there is use of this to justify what are now known infamously as “alternative facts”, i.e straight up lies or also known politely as “falsehoods”. Most of us have run across this new word choice, whether it be through the many different news sources or even through the new language of millennials: MEMES! Memes have been great for us just trying to get through these past couple of months. These past months have been rather dim and personally, these images have been working as a temporary escape from the complete mess we have been thrown into. But gorgeously, our ability to turn the ridiculousness of our government into our greatest source of comedy has rubbed our so called leaders the wrong way. One particular orange man has even used his newly found position and his bland crony to attempt an attack on media in its entirety because “some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting” in regards to the orange man’s nonexistence audience on his first day of elementary school. Oh, excuse me, that was meant to be “first day of work”. The amount of back lash against this orange bully ranges we the common folk to our elected government officials such as California Senator Kamala Harris to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. For the majority of the the 2016 Presidential Election, Senator Warren has been increasingly vocal, gaining and echoing the support of those who identify as feminists and overall fair and equal people as she has not been shy about addressing the conduct of President Grumpy Cat and the cronies now controlling the House and the Senate majorities. When Senator Warren decide to use to time and position to confront the election of a U.S. Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, instead she was met with harsh criticism and absolute disrespect despite being told “I think we have to grow up…see if we can treat each other with greater respect” by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch.
So what does this mean when those with power continue to strip any chance of it away from those without? This is the world we live in, it is happening right now. We need to grab back at those who choose to grab at our vulnerabilities and demand them to listen to us even with our clothes on. Our time to get nasty is now, let us stand for ourselves.
