The Culture of Shut Up by Jon Lovett was published in the Politics section of The Atlantic. In his article, the author refers to the current urgent issues and the way they are viewed via media and social networks. The purpose of the article is to attract attention to the accessibility of sources of information and self-expression in the society, where the freedom of speech is considered to be one of the greatest values and primary humans’ rights. The audience this article is aimed for consists of educated people, interested in social and political life (both local and global), willing to support sustainable development and ensuring human rights, and smart enough to understand the references and metaphors, often used by Lovett in order to provide bright examples.
The Culture of Shut Up deals with one of the most significant issues – close integration of social networks in daily living, the informational overdose caused by it, and the controversy concerning the right to freedom of speech and human dignity.
The article starts with a story about imaginary society, whose representatives do not contact the outside world and do not have the ability to speak. Only three elders are free to express their minds and beliefs and have arguments. Instead, they can wait till one of the elders says exactly what they are thinking about. Lovett points out that those voices sometimes do not speak for everybody, in some extent reminding that whatever people are speaking about, every vote really matters.
At first, everyone in this society seems more or less happy, until the author decides to mention a significant thing: the elders are rich and one color – green. “And they didn’t really understand what it was like to be aqua or purple or gay or poor like you were” (Lovett, n. p.). The author comes to one of the most significant issues, very complicated to handle – discrimination. He mentions that discrimination occurs and many forms, and everyone, who decides to speak up, are related to it, willingly or unwillingly trying to make the situation better or worse. Lovett describes the way injustice spreads among people until completely captures the society. Ironically, this imaginary nation faces its worst times because of the freedom, which comes out of control.
In this combination of satiric dialogues, quotes from popular TV shows and pros and cons of social networks and media, where everyone is free to write what they think in any form, Lovett makes a bit mock but fair conclusion, “That’s an exaggeration, of course. The Internet didn’t cause Donald Trump, and it certainly can’t solve Donald Trump” (Lovett, n. p.). Though the article was published several years ago, it is even more meaningful today.
With this summarizing point, placed in the middle of the argument, Lovett prepares a reader to a final conclusion: people are drowning in information, and due to the first amendment the situation heats up. Is it the reason to shut up and make everyone do, too? Lovett is certain, that “we need to get comfortable with the reality that no one is going to shut up” (Lovett, n. p.), for the right for free speech may begin with the First Amendment, but we are the one to use it right or wrong. In the end, it is impossible to beat an idea by beating a person, who expresses it, not the idea itself.
The Culture of Shut Up is the objective analysis of democracy, freedom of speech, the general idea of opportunity, and the way modern people should treat everything abovementioned, making it all work for general benefit.
Works Cited
Lovett, Jon. “The Culture of Shut Up”. The Atlantic. Web. 7 Apr 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/the-culture-of-shut-up/360239/. Accessed 02 Feb 2017.
