At 1/29/16 06:37 PM, vannila-guerilla wrote:
So apparently people think that free speech means you can say what you want, when you want, where you want, and that's a load of fucking bullshit, because no the fuck you can't. I'm sure some people are wondering why I didn't put this in the politics section, but the reason I didn't is because this isn't a political matter, even though everyone seems to think it is. It's a social one, and for some reason some people can't get that through their thick skulls.
I find this is a helpful phrase for people to remember about things like this: "Your rights end at the bridge of my nose". While I think it is super important for any free, intellectual society to maintain an open and free dialogue....you're absolutely right that doesn't, and can't mean "I can say whatever I want and there's no consequences for it". That's just not a good idea for so many different reasons.
Now, let me explain something: The 1st Amendment, or whatever law or clause your respective country has protecting your speech, ONLY protects it from the government, right?
For the most part, yes. It prohibits the government from making any laws that prohibit speech, BUT it does not cover threats. It also doesn't apply to rules made by businesses or private individuals in terms of conduct (I.E. You're job can prohibit you from cursing, all of NG's BBS rules for conduct are also completely and entirely legal since as this is Tom Fulp's property he has the right and ability to determine what sort of content is and isn't acceptable here).
So why the hell is it whenever someone tells someone else to shut the fuck up they act like it somehow makes them a political prisoner or oppressed?
Because stupid people are stupid is what I find. You have people who are just bright enough to hear about the concept of "Free Speech" but not smart enough to bother to look at the First Amendment (If American), or other applicable laws, statutes, etc. I've lost count of how many times people have screamed at me here that because they were banned for breaking a rule that it's a "violation of my free speech" or even at my job subordinates have told me or other members of management that we can't prohibit them from discussing certain topics or saying certain things because of same. That's just not how it works, but they have little interest or capacity in finding out why they're incorrect.
If you say something extremely fucking stupid and people boycott your or ban you you're not the victim of anything.
That's very possibly true. But not always the case. People in authority don't always act in the best and most noble ways like their supposed to. That's why the Bill of Rights was amended to the Constitution in the US to begin with and other countries around the world have put similar checks on the power of their governments.
It's not a political matter because it's not the government's doing. Yes, you can say whatever you want and the government can't do anything to you, but that doesn't mean that free speech protects you from the consequences of the stupid shit you say.
This similarly is not the case. You cannot "say whatever you want and the government can't do anything to you", as I said, you are not allowed to make threats. If you threaten to harm someone or a group of someones, this is not covered by free speech because it's a crime and may result in prosecution. Things you say have different levels of consequences though, that you are right about. If you decide to say something in public or to someone else, you need to be prepared for (at the least) the negative consequence that they may disagree with you, challenge you, or prove what you're saying wrong.
If you say something stupid and racist on Twitter and Target fires you for it, or whoever else, you aren't the victim of political oppression. You're suffering from the social, not political, consequences of your actions, so suck it up and quit pretending like you're a victim.
I'm personally not a big fan of that sort of thing happening. While I believe people should be smarter then to trash their co-workers, supervisors, and company on their social media account....we also need to have the protection when someone sees or hears of wrong doing that they ARE allowed to communicate that publicly without retaliation.
Sorry, but I get a little annoyed when people pretend they're being oppressed when they're really not. It seems like these days everyone has a victim complex.
True that. Some people are just looking for reasons to be offended or pissed, and that's a problem because it muddies the waters and makes it harder to get truly bad behaviors and situations resolved. I do think a lot of this stuff starts in a place of "I'm just trying to be considerate of others and make the world a better place" which is great....but then where it ends up does the exact opposite.
