American Moral Economy

1.2 The Abstract

As long as citizens retain the right to think, believe and speak as they will, then deplatforming will be a feature of civil society. It is an enduring feature found in the American heritage as well as those of kin civilizations like ancient Athens, Sparta and Rome. In order to better understand deplatforming, we reckon it de facto censorship. This form of censorship is private- unaffiliated with the government- and a powerful tool among others to shape the mores, rituals and traditions of society.

Peer pressure is a powerful social phenomenon that encourages conformity within a group, regardless of how 'nonconformist' the group may be outside itself. Any outlier group members who do not conform are encouraged to do so by way of violence, ridicule or condemnation. If the outlier still does not conform, he risks banishment from the group.

A united group without outliers is able to act effectively and efficiently. A group in total unison is also capable of highly questionable behavior. Groups that deplatform exercise social pressure in order to promote conformity. Outlier members conform because they fear violence, ridicule or condemnation.[1]

In one word: culture.

For the purpose of this study, we will limit our judgement of deplatforming to its implied value. It is an instrument of popular social regulation. It abides by the laws (but not without the occasional abuse).

Aimed squarely at what Jean-Jacques Rousseau calls the “sentiments of sociability,” deplatforming expresses a Popular Morality within the parameters of our unique economic, social and political context. Deplatforming is one tool among others that shape the American Moral Economy: the execution of high-minded ideals, ethics and capital by individuals, communities, factions, corporations and the people of the government.

In time we will thoroughly define these terms and limit their exact use.

Why does this matter?

Virtually everyone across the United States are witness to the active use of a wide variety of social regulatory tools like deplatforming, boycotts and socio-economic ostracism. [2] Social regulation is the tweaking of established “sentiments of sociability,” including common behavior, words, beliefs and in turn mores, rituals and traditions. Within the limits of the law, the Moral Economy can greatly impact the way Americans think, speak, affiliate with one another and conduct their business. It can have a profound impact on your life.

Why is it important that we distinguish social censorship from government censorship?

The negative term for this is "groupthink." The state of mind whereby group members abide by an idea or program without thinking for themselves about the idea or the evidence that supports it.

Footnotes

1. Group questions are not answered by bashing shields in agreement, like in ancient Germania. We do not say "aye," like in the halls of representative government. But we do hear the shouts of outraged groups like Crassus did in Persia. Those shouts (and threats) cost that general his head and his army their lives and honor. During the Peloponnesian War, the loud discontent behind the walls of Athens forced Pericles' hand to fight Sparta in open battle. The following defeat was the end of the Athenian empire. We must recognize that social power is not always used for noble or tactful/strategic ends. We must beware that just because an idea or program is popular and labeled 'progressive' or 'conservative' doesn't mean that, if instituted, the program will have proactive or retroactive results. Popularity is not virtuous per se, but it is powerful. We aim to determine just how powerful groups are within the scope of the Moral Economy.

2. Depriving a citizen of gainful employment and community/national/digital participation