One of the reasons the left is so enamored of censorship is that they primarily battle in the domain of words and exercise their power that way — controlling speech (their own and others) is how they see winning playing out.

In some ways, they are not wrong. Speech — in the broad sense of that word — does have power. However, the left, largely being academics, wonks, writers, journalists, etc., mostly sees speech as the only power in play and believe if they can compel silence or their preferred utterances they can then control the world.

But there is more to the world than speech, and by foregoing achieving power in politics and culture while obsessing over the policing of what is said over what is done, the left is not able to grasp any larger power. Their area of strength blinds them to all the other arenas of action that propel change. They are forever constrained by their self-imposed narrow confine, debating what the definition of “is” is while the conservatives and reactionaries make “to be” be.

The above is why the left has a high chance of losing the 2020 election to Trump, not to mention that the left will be the most damaged by censorship in the end.

Certainly, words have power. But there is more to power than words and the left would do well to remember that.