Compulsory expression is itself a tool of repressive forces

Evidence

We’re riddled with pointless talk, insane quantities of words and images. Stupidity’s never blind or mute. So it’s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say. Repressive forces don’t stop people expressing themselves but rather force them to express themselves; what a relief to have nothing to say, the right to say nothing, because only then is there a chance of framing the rare, and ever rarer, thing that might be worth saying. — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 49

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s knowledge of silencing vs. compelled speech debates; also resonates with the Frankfurt School material on the culture industry forcing participation. — connects to: Forced communication, not censorship, is the modern repressive force — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New…, 189
• DEFINE: Establishes one core sense of ‘nothing’ Odell means — not withdrawal from speech but a precondition for meaningful speech.