The earthquake that struck <a href="https://www.world-today-news.com/neurons-vitrified-by-the-eruption-the-discovery-in-a-victim-of-vesuvius-la-stampa/" title="Neurons "vitrified" by the eruption: the discovery in a victim of Vesuvius – La Stampa”>Pompeii in 62 AD was devastating. Houses were overturned, streets devastated, and more than 2,000 people were killed. The residents assumed it was the whim of an intemperate god, rebuilt the city, and resumed their lives. But that was only the prelude. 17 years later, Vesuvius erupted and the city was engulfed in a deluge of volcanic ash.
It’s too easy to miss the first signs of impending doom. Today’s culture wars are often interpreted as symptoms of fleeting fashion. Most can feel the tremors — restrictions on free speech, public shaming of those with outmoded views, regressive identity politics masquerading as “progress” — but there is a widespread sense that if we ignore the problems, they will go away simply. But what if these rumblings are a sign of something much worse to come? What would happen if, like the people of Pompeii, we were at risk of civilizational collapse but misinterpreted the signs?
Other tremors have recently resonated with new attacks on the First Amendment to the US Constitution, perhaps the last bastion of free speech in the West. Speaking at the World Economic Forum earlier this month, former Secretary of State John Kerry argued that when it comes to “misinformation,” the “First Amendment is a major barrier to being able to, you know , eliminate it from existence.”
