only those in the shuk have answers

Commenting on the fact that Moshe spoke to the entirety of the people, Rashi writes at the beginning of our parsha:

אל כל ישראל – אילו הוכיח מקצתם, היו אילו שבשוק אומרים: הייתם שומעים מבן עמרם ולא השיבותם דבר מכך וכך, אילו היינו שם היינו משיבין אותו. לכך כנסם כולם, ואמר להם: הרי כולכם כאן, כל מי שיש לו תשובה ישיב.

Had Moshe spoken to only some of the people, the others in the shuk, in the market, would have said, "Had we been there, we would not have taken the rebuke sitting -- we would have answered back."  Big words.  So Moshe gathered everyone, and said, "You think you have answers -- OK, let's hear what you all have to say."  And no one said anything. 

Pshat seems to be not that Moshe cowed everyone into silence, but to the contrary, he wanted to afford them the opportunity to speak, but there was nothing for them to say as there were no excuses or justifications possible.

Yet, the Midrash comments on Moshe's bracha, "Yosef aleichem kachem eleph pe'amim," as follows:

אמר רבי אחא:
יכולין היו ישראל לומר לו: רבינו משה! אנו יש בנו אחד מכל הדברים שאתה מוכיחנו וקבלנו תוכחותיך אלא שתקו, לפיכך הוא אומר: ככם צדיקים, כיוצא בכם מקבלים תוכחות ושותקים

Moshe blessed the people that they should increase "kachem," that the thousands that would come after them should be like them, as they could have answered back and defended themselves against his rebuke but instead chose to remain silent.

So which is it -- could they have spoken up and defended themselves, or was it all bluster and in truth there was nothing that could have been said?

The Bnei Yisaschsr (Chanukah maamar 3:24) explains that if you believe in yad Hashem, then you get your parnasa directly from yad Hashem, like it was in the midbar.  If you believe in the marketplace, albeit with hashgacha working in the background, then you have to go out to the marketplace and do your work and hashgacha will operate in the background.  The mitzvah of ner Chanukah is "ad she'tichleh regel min ha'shuk," until we reach the level where we don't need the shuk, the marketplace, as an intermediary.  The gemara says at the time of geulah bread will grow on trees -- the the veil of teva, the harvesting, grinding, and baking, wont be needed anymore..

The Yismach Yisrael explains that we all think we have excuses for everything we do or don't do, and in the context of our lives, those excuses really might have some validity.  For example, a person can say a whole torah on the importance of hishtadlus to explain why he spends X number of hours of work and has only minimal time to learn, and it may not all be posturing -- he may be sincere, and really can justify his actions.  When you are in the shuk, whether it is the marketplace of secular ideas or the marketplace of parnasa, it makes sense.  Those in the shuk thought that they had good answers for whatever Moshe would bring up.

However, when actually standing in front of Moshe Rabeinu where you can see and feel yad Hashem in a direct way, those same arguments suddenly seem insignificant and lacking in merit. B'mechitzaso shel tzadik ha'dor, there are no answers.

Do you really think all the excuses for what we do in life will hold water when we are standing b'mechitzaso of the Beis HaMikdash?  Here is galus those stories work, but not there.  Geulah means we escape the shuk, but to do so means dealing with some hard truths.  Tochacha = from the shoresh "toch," inside, says the Sefas Emes.  Who really wants to dig deep down inside?  Might find things are not so pleasant.  But lately, the outside world is not such a pleasant place either, especially for Jews.