To speak your mind in the United States requires that you have a mouth, equipped with a trachea and an esophagus. The trachea must also contain a pair of vocal cords. "Nothing else is required." Given such basic requirements, it's expected that many many people would say whatever was on their mind. Yet, people who speak their minds are few and far between.
This disparity between the expected and reality is due in part to the culture of fear that has sprung up. There are certain "controversial topics" that can only be discussed in hushed tones under the cover of darkness. People are afraid to say what they think because they might be shunned or even attacked. It doesn't matter which side of the aisle you stand on, you can be sure the other side won't let it slide. This culture of fear prevents healthy discourse between individuals possessing different opinions.
In the interest of self-preservation, people separate what they really think and what other people think they think. You would think that fooling other people to think that you think like they think keeps what you think safe, but all it does is slowly change what you really think into what you think you're making others think you think. If you think about it, everyone is thinking in this way, which means that no one is thinking what they really think.
It's ironic that in the Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave, there are things that can't be said and people who don't dare to talk about them.
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