So, time for some soapboxing!
Well, I’ve rewritten this thing like half a dozen times now, so here’s attempt #7! In light of recent events, the freedom of speech has once again come under attack. This time, however, there have been atrocious and vile consequences as innocent people have lost their lives to vicious mobs expressing their outrage to a single, unimaginably bad, inflammatory, trolling, Youtube video. I won’t get into this exact event too much, but lets just say that I can’t find reason in these actions. It is beyond any kind of sensible comprehension that a single piece of media could cause the loss of innocent human lives. I feel much pain for those that have suffered by the hand of blind animalistic violence. And that’s all we’ll get into that for now.
But this event has spurred much debate with what is covered by the freedom of speech. Does everything get covered or is it selective? Do certain things need to be censored or is it an everything goes type thing? Ever since we as people have carried a voice, or written down our thoughts, or even currently, created interactive medias, there have been others who want to silence the messages they carry. There is power in voice. Not just literally speech, but all forms of media; music, art, literature, performances, and the interactive (gaming). And all of which, have been the subject to heated scrutiny as to the validity of their existence. Some feel that “words” can hurt; they can incite or degrade. This is true. A good speech could rally troops to victory, or upstart a revolution to crush a kingdom. They can be visual and be graphic; they can show us the things we fear, we hate, and cause us to be outraged. Speech has great great power. And that is why it is one of the most sacred tennants of our society; the first in fact. It is our most basic right of being a sentient creature, the right of free expression of one’s self. It is not always a reflection of our mind and soul, but sometimes a critique, a shared understanding, and most definitely, an immutable voice to be heard. Our species has waged wars for the rights of free expression, and the attacks from those who wish to silence us has never ceased.
Granted, among the vast majority of great works out there that are the epitome of this freedom, there are, lets just say, things that are less than savory. Some of the byproducts of free speech are, well, utter crap. While you have those that use it to voice creativity, celebration, or criticism, there are still many that use it in some misguided ways. If you’ve been on the internet for more than 5 minutes, you’ll probably know what I mean. There are many things out there that are total rubbish and some are just plane wrong. But there’s the problem. For there to be a society of free peoples who are granted the rights of self expression, then all of it must be valid*. (note here… all is a funny word, if it violates basic laws or directly causes un-consensual harm to others, then it can not be valid. But I guess that’s probably debatable as well.) We must stand firm, together, for every idiotic word, for every offensive video, for every disgusting art, or downright pure filth of a attempt to troll, we must protect it. It isn’t a matter of what we like or if we find it to be a valid form of art or not, as a society, we have to defend its right to exist. And that’s where we have to ( no matter how much it pains us to do so) stand up for our constitution and philosophies that no matter how much we may hate what you say, we will with every last breath, uphold your right to say it.
At the end of the day, “sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can never harm us”. Hurt, yes; harm, no. Sure, we might be offended or offput by certain things. Hell, I have no desire to watch The Human Centipede, but I’m not going to go on a crusade to have it erased from the annals of history. Nor will I riot in the streets. There is absolutely zero justification for ever harming an innocent person because of your outrage over something. Zero. So there should be no other reaction to offensive media other than feeling putout or just embarrassed that you are genetically related to the species of the creator of the work. That is all. While we reserve the right to freely express ourselves, we also have the right to ignore what others are expressing. It doesn’t effect you. Only the actions and reactions of others does, and while the venn diagrams might touch a little, they never overlap. People, supposedly, have brains, so the actions they take based on the expressions of others is solely their own. It is just that clear and simple. So the fact that creative expression has ever tried to be squelched is beyond incomprehensible.
So keep all that in mind next time you see something on the news about this or that being the cause of some sort of outrage that threatens the freedoms of others… because if you start to silence just one, then before long nobody will have a voice.
I see you didn’t mention the name of said youtube vid. But i agree that you have a right to an opinion (even a stupid one) and if you choose you should be able to voice it. If you attempt to put it into action, you might be crossing the line though.
A absolutely free society would have a simple way of determining laws :If this doesn’t impede on your or someone elses rights, it should be legal. I think there is a much better and easier way to state that, but its pretty damn late for me :P
yeah… it can be found pretty easily as it’s like front page of every news outlet now. >\
very true good sir. it’s our duty to uphold the rights of people to spout as much craziness as they want. if we can’t do that, then we can’t protect it for the rest of us.
I’m aware of the video, assuming its one thats still causing riots, and the reaction is rediculous, particularly given theres now a terrorist / freedom fighter group (I’m irish I try to avoid distinction given the last 200 years in my country) calling for riots. I can’t condone that kind of action and I’d like to think humanity was beyond it.
I think certain things shouldnt be sayable (like publishing information putting peoples lives at risk online) or doable, publishing photographs obtained by illicit (super long lens) means as per the current controvercy with a certain member of the english royal family (opinions of monarchy are irrelevant on this one). Beyond that its got to be a say what ever you want even if it does make you the largest numbf**k of a bigot the world has ever known. Otherwise we push toward 1984.
sadly, humanity still has a long long way to go… unfortunately, as technology and weaponry increase, the sanity of the people who wield that power has not matched its pace.
yeah, there seems to be a sort of odd distinction here. lol, but there’s nothing wrong with some posters of the crown jewels! XD I do like the movement of the troops to support him by posing for similar photos. >D
First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.
- Martin Niemöller
ah, I like that!
some must speak for the trees! >)
I’m going to say whatever I please as my liberty allows. If you don’t like it, I can show you how I am able to exercise my Second Amendment liberties as well.
“You” not being directed at you Coffin, but people in general (just wanted to clarify).
hahaha! there was a comedian that said “you don’t need the first amendment… if you have a gun, you can say whatever you want!” don’t know his name though. >\
lol, thanks for the clarification! XD
As long as you don’t have any harming intend… sure free-speech is fair. I mean how can you learn if noone point out your mistake. ( I mean logically with proof and not trolling. Which is hard to see these days. )
Everyone have opinions and they try hard for it to be ‘validated’ by strangers. Problem is if you take it to the extreme…well nothing good will come out of it.
So Be respectful and insightful. Think twice before writing an angry rant. If you can actualyl contribute to the discussion or a person…then it is a good work. Just don’t contribute to the ‘Problem’.
well said!
I’m perfectly okay with free speech, so long as it isn’t harmful (as mentioned in the comment above me). It seems VERY scary when someone says threats & stuff on the Internet. As the saying goes, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Even though I have been known to go against that saying on occasions. Whoops. :S
sigh, there’s a certain feminist gamer girl that does a video series, and I’ve seen some of it and it’s actually very informative and well thought out and not pushy, but she got death and assault threats. it’s scary! what kind of people do that? kind of a messed up world we live in…
side thought… you know, maybe this is a right vs etiquette sort of thing. maybe we should have an official standards of internet etiquette committee! … my good sir!
I am all for the freedom of speech, but being former military I do not feel this covers military info. A civilian with no sense of security has no reason to know how many explosives are on a multi-warhead missile, the enemy does. Ironically enough freedom for anything isn’t free. To be free one must have some restrictions. Now I am not saying that the depth of freakishly anal restrictions people are trying to present are valid. Just that yes freedom of speech is great, but some things just should be said.
Remember this when thinking of security:
For Official Use only: Embarrassing but okay if let out
Secret: Fairly damaging to security or reputation
Top Secret: Extremely damaging to security or reputation
Need To Know: If you have to ask this, then you don’t have the Need To Know.
Remember that little chart and your life will be so much simpler. Still Freedom of speech in any media is awesome, just be responsible with it. And take responsibility if you say something that hurts someone else. Lets abolish the PC movement of shifting the blame!
Sorry for the rant.
uhg… don’t even get me started on the pc movement…