Kerby Anderson

Ben Shapiro asks an important question: Is Ignoring the Other Side a Winning Strategy for the Left? He asked that question because his company released the documentary by Matt Walsh, “What is a Woman?” The film investigates radical gender theory and its influence in society.

He noted that (at least at the time of the article) no one in the entertainment media had reviewed the film. Rotten Tomatoes had lots of viewer reviews and comments, but not a single traditional review of the film was listed in the site.

The conscious decision to ignore the other side in a controversial issue can be found in many other areas. Pick a controversy: voter fraud, climate change, gun violence, vaccine effectiveness, or several other issues. News programs and social media sites may not even acknowledge there is another side to the controversy. Suggest a debate on the subject and you will be told “we won’t debate the issue for the same reason we don’t debate flat earthers.”

But what if credentialed individuals do have a difference of opinion? Then, we are told it is time to censor those people spreading disinformation. That may work for a time until alternative media provides an outlet for those ideas. Ben Shapiro quotes a former Barack Obama advisor who called for even more censorship because Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire has more followers and engagement than the New York Times or CNN.

Ben Shapiro concludes that the strategy of ignoring the other side doesn’t work. The progressive left has siloed themselves in a world divorced from reality by telling themselves that the other side doesn’t exist. But the other side does exist and has alternative sources of news and information. Moreover, the other side votes and will likely make their presence known in the November elections.