Category: Woke culture
How do you solve a problem like Wikipedia?
Wikipedia has recently come under the microscope. I take some credit for this, as a co-founder of Wikipedia and a longtime vocal critic of the knowledge platform.
In September, I nailed (virtually) “Nine Theses About Wikipedia” to the digital door of Wikipedia and started a round of interviews about it, beginning with Tucker Carlson. This prompted Elon Musk to announce Grokipedia’s impending launch the very next day. And a national conversation evolved from there, with left- and right-leaning voices complaining about the platform’s direction or my critique of it.
As long as Wikipedia remains open, it is entirely possible for those who think differently to get involved.
As its 25th anniversary approaches, Wikipedia clearly needs reform. Not only does the platform have a long history of left-wing bias, but the purveyors of that bias — administrators, everyday editors, and others — stubbornly cling to their warped worldview and vilify those who dare to contest it.
The “Nine Theses” are the project’s first-ever thoroughgoing reform proposal. Among the ideas:
- Allow multiple, competing articles per topic.
- Stop ideological blacklisting of sources.
- Restore the original neutrality policy.
- Reveal the identities of the most powerful managers.
- End unfair, indefinite blocking.
- Adopt a formal legislative process.
Such ideas were bound to be a hard sell on Wikipedia. It has become institutionally ossified.
Nevertheless, I was delighted that the discussion of the theses has been robust, without much further prodding from me. Following the launch, Jimmy Wales actually stepped into the fray on the so-called talk page of an article called “Gaza genocide,” chiding the participants for violating Wikipedia’s neutrality policy. I chimed in as well. But the criticism was thrown back in our faces.
This brings me to the deeper problem: Wikipedia is stuck in its ways. How can it possibly be reformed when so many of its contributors like the bias, the anonymous leadership, the ease of blocking ideological foes, and other aspects of dysfunction? Reform seems impossible.
Yet there is one realistic way that we can make progress toward reform.
Above all else, those who care should get involved in Wikipedia. The total number of people who are really active on Wikipedia is surprisingly small. The number editing 100 times in any given month is in the low thousands, and this does not amount to that much time — perhaps one or two hours per week. Those who treat it as a part-time or full-time job — and so have real day-to-day influence — number in the hundreds.
In interviews, I have been urging the outcasts to converge on Wikipedia. You might think this is code for saying that conservatives and libertarians should try to stage a coup, but that is not so. Hindus and Israelis, among others, have also complained of being left out in recent years. The problem is an entrenched ruling class. As long as Wikipedia remains open, it is entirely possible for those who think differently to get involved.
RELATED: Wikipedia editors are trying to scrub the record clean of Iryna Zarutska’s slaughter by violent thug
Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images
If you are a conservative or libertarian who is concerned about the slanted framing of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, get involved. If you are a classical liberal who is alarmed by the anti-Semitism within Wikipedia — like Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz — it is time to make your presence felt. Wherever you may fall on the ideological spectrum, I call on good-faith citizens to become engaged editors who take productive discourse seriously, rather than scapegoating “the other side.”
Even a dozen new editors could make a difference, let alone hundreds or thousands who might be reading this column. Given that Wikipedia attracts billions of readers, in addition to featuring prominently in Google Search, Google Gemini, and elsewhere, improving the platform will strengthen our collective access to high-quality information across the board. It will bring us closer to truth.
So how do we solve the Wikipedia problem? With you, me, and all of us — individual action at scale.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.
Leftists melt down after Idaho bar announces month of free beer if you help ICE find, deport illegal aliens
The Old State Saloon in Eagle, Idaho, achieved national prominence last year when it launched what it deemed “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month.”
The punch line? The plucky watering hole chose June for its 30 days of celebrating all things straight — which, of course, immediately ignited fuses dangling from left-wing noggins given that June has long been Pride Month and all.
‘WE ARE PLANNING A HUGE PROTEST THIS WEEKEND AT UR POS SALOON! GOD DOESN’T LIKE UGLY AND Y’ALL GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!’
Well, the Old State Saloon once again is managing to poke at the left — this time offering free beer for a month to all those who help Immigration and Customs Enforcement capture and deport illegal immigrants.
The bar’s Saturday X post reads, “ALERT: Anyone who helps ICE identify and ultimately deport an illegal from Idaho gets FREE BEER FOR ONE MONTH at Old State Saloon!”
On the same day, the Department of Homeland Security reposted the saloon’s offer with a humorous GIF underscoring how floored the agency is with the promotion helping its cause — and the repost has received a whopping 3.7 million views. The Old State Saloon replied, “Let’s go! Deport them all!”
Part of the deal, however, is that those who want to claim the month-long sudsy prize must “send a detailed email with any evidence, photos, videos, summary of events, dates, and times” to deportations@oldstatesaloon.com.
One person asked the bar, “Hold up! Is there a limit per month? Limit on months?” Old State replied, “2/day for one month” and “at our discretion, may award multiple months to one person if multiple illegals are deported.”
Photographer: Yuvraj Khanna/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The bar on Sunday announced its “first big winner” of the free beer offer: Ryan Spoon, vice chair of the Ada County Republican Central Committee in Idaho. Spoon told Newsweek he “had a free Moon Dog Amber Ale” and “a great chat with the owner, Mark Fitzpatrick, whom I also consider a friend.”
More from the magazine:
Spoon previously made headlines when he publicly called for immigration raids on state Representative Stephanie Mickelsen’s farm, alleging the employment of undocumented workers. Days later, immigration agents visited Mickelsen Farms, leading to the arrest of one employee.
With all the attention the bar’s offer of free beer is generating, it should come as no surprise that a wave of left-wing backlash has been quickly growing.
But the Old State Saloon isn’t backing down from any of it — in fact, the bar is reposting on its X page the nasty feedback it has been receiving. The missives range from what clearly are fake one-star reviews — aimed at lowering the bar’s average customer scores — to some interestingly worded threats.
One of them read: “I hope you get swatted like all the sad little MAGAT bitches who think they’re doing something right. You’re not, you racist piece of s**t. I’ll be dancing a jig in a week when your busted-up s**thole is closed forever. Maybe I’ll stop by first [to] see if a cleansing fire might be the ticket.”
“U RACIST ASSHOLES!” another message read. “WE ARE PLANNING A HUGE PROTEST THIS WEEKEND AT UR POS SALOON! GOD DOESN’T LIKE UGLY AND Y’ALL GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL! BITCHES.”
Old State offered the following reply: “You better hurry up because according to all your criminal friends, Old State Saloon will be burned down by then! Let’s be real: You aren’t going to do anything. But you sounded pretty tough for a minute there.”
What’s more, on the day after the launch of the free beer campaign, Old State actually took things to another level, noting that the month of December is now “Merry Snitchmas” and a collection of new specials is on tap: “Manly American Mondays — all American citizen males who support ICE get one free beer! Ladies’ ‘I’m Telling’ Tuesdays — BOGO for American woman willing to tell ICE about any illegals, to get them deported. Wednesday: American heterosexual couples get 10% off their entire bill. Get married and make American babies, if at all possible!”
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