Freedom of Speech 101
I’ve written about freedom of speech on several occasions, but apparently it’s time to do so again, as I’ve read that my tale about the Pig and the Bunny and the word “retarded” advocates censorship.
I don’t want to pick on the individual who raised this point, because he’s not alone. The reason I had the third wolf reply, “You can’t tell me what to say. I have freedom of speech!” is because this response is in fact rather common. (Often, but not always, coming hand-in-hand with a slam on “political correctness.”)
Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech. (It should be noted that I’m talking about this issue from a U.S. perspective. Laws and ideas about freedom of speech vary widely from one nation to another.)
So here’s the thing. You have the right to say that Jim C. Hines is a condescending asswipe. I support your right to say that, and I would oppose any legislation that tried to take away that right.
But if you say it to my face, I’ll ask you to stop. Or maybe I’ll walk away and talk to someone else. If you come onto my blog and post it as a comment, I might delete your comment and boot you off of my site. Or maybe I’ll just mock you.
None of those things in any way restrict or take away your freedom of speech.
If you read Yo Is This Racist, you’ll find a lot of questions about white folks wanting permission to use the word “nigger.” There are people who get really upset, not about racism, but about the fact that we as white people aren’t allowed to use that one word. To paraphrase Khan, it tasks us. It tasks us, and we shall have it!
Well guess what. As it turns out, we do have the right to use that word. Yay us!
And the rest of the world has the right to call us racist, ignorant shits if we choose to to use it.
Hey look at that, freedom of speech goes both ways. Who knew?
You have the right to use the word “retarded,” too. And I recognize that we often use words unthinkingly. But people also have the right to ask you not to use it.
What I don’t have is the legal means to force you to stop using that word. After hearing someone say, “This word is hurtful to me and to others,” you can choose to keep using it. And that’s as it should be.
I’ll lose respect for you if you make that choice. I may tell you what I think about you continuing to use that word. I might mock you for it. If you’re a business, I might stop giving you money. If you’re an author, I might stop reading your books.
That’s my choice.
This is from a blog post I wrote back in 2009. (Is it egotistical to quote yourself? Oh well…):
Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.
Freedom of speech is hard. It’s messy. Sometimes it’s ugly. But freedom of speech does not mean freedom from responsibility. Nor does freedom of speech obligate me to agree with your words, or to provide them with a platform.
Any questions?
—
Stephen A. Watkins
March 12, 2012 @ 10:54 am
This goes hand-in-hand with Scalzi’s recent post on the subject (i.e. of freedom of speech vs. freedom from consequences).
It’s something that many who are ignorant (I use that word in the sense that they have not been fully educated on a given subject) seem not to understand. Sometimes, though, it’s clear that those who are ignorant (obviously not all, but some) are ignorant by choice. That’s simultaneously sad and infuriating.
Hilary Moon Murphy
March 12, 2012 @ 11:52 am
“Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.”
This quote makes my day.
Hmm
Adam
March 12, 2012 @ 12:31 pm
There have been very few times in my life when I have intentionally said something to try and offend someone. That said, there have been quite a few times when I’ve said something that doesn’t bother me at all that is offensive to someone else. If I can see that they’ve been upset, or they say something to me, I apologize and I try to watch what I say around them in the future. But in general I’m a fairly vulgar person and I really have no problem with any words.
I would imagine that most of the people who use any offensive term are closer to my disposition than to that of the wolves in your story last week. They just aren’t aware of what words they’re using, and if you talk to them and ask them to stop, most of them will.
Chris
March 12, 2012 @ 1:00 pm
Education might be a mixed bag. I read a recent study that showed people who are more educated (in general) are actually less likely to change their mind. The psychology behind it was that people tend to have beliefs (first) and then find data to back it up, rather than the other way around. The more education, the more entrenched the person was in their views.
Totally backwards to what I would have guessed.
Stephen A. Watkins
March 12, 2012 @ 1:21 pm
That is rather the opposite of what one might expect. I expect there might be a bit more nuance to that question than the study lets on (or covered). Still… the alternative?
Chris
March 12, 2012 @ 1:46 pm
Wisdom.
I know that answer is kind of cheating but it’s something we seem to ignore quite a bit.
Stephen A. Watkins
March 12, 2012 @ 1:50 pm
Hmm. That’s a good touche.
Wisdom is pretty hard to come by, and it sure can’t be taught. I’m not sure there’s a sure-fire path to its acquisition. Education seems like a good second-best, though.
(Or… the best, perhaps, is wisdom and education. Knowledge and understanding, both.)
Jayle Enn
March 12, 2012 @ 3:17 pm
“If you come onto my blog and post it as a comment, I might delete your comment and boot you off of my site.”
This. This reflects a frustratingly common misconception about freedom of speech, and of censorship.
Simply stated, freedom of speech doesn’t extend to private venues. Like blogs. Or MMOs. Or that restaurant down at the corner. Or that person’s home you just got kicked out of for being a mouthy asshat. It really isn’t as sacrosanct as people like to believe.
Miss Bliss
March 12, 2012 @ 5:28 pm
Sigh…it amazes me how often I have had to explain to someone the difference between a television show deciding it doesn’t want to air something or a publisher deciding it doesn’t want to publish something and the Government making it illegal. In some ways I think it’s an example of how deeply ingrained our protections are and sadly how much we take them for granted and as a result misunderstand them. Thank you for taking the time to write about it. We live in a world where we need to share our knowledge with each other more so that maybe as suggested above…we could all become not only more educated but also wiser.
Ms. Elise
March 13, 2012 @ 1:37 pm
I’m just curious, but why, exactly, is not changing your mind a bad thing? Flexibility is seen as good, but at the same time, if you change your mind/opinions/beliefs with any slight pressure, then you never actually learn – you never question your own beliefs, much less anyone else’s, merely switch positions at the drop of a hat.
I’m quite stubborn on a number of my beliefs, and as I have learned more about my beliefs and other people’s beliefs, I have become more stubborn about them. But that’s not because I’m closing my mind, but because I test my beliefs against other arguments, refining them as I confront new perspectives, yet becoming more certain that they are correct. I fail to see how this is a bad thing, honestly.
Chris
March 13, 2012 @ 3:34 pm
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that a total lack of conviction is a good thing.
To give this a little perspective, if it wasn’t for people’s ability to change their minds, you wouldn’t have the right to vote today.
Any progressive movement is based on the ability for people to change their previous (sometimes baseless) ideas. Invention and advancements in science and industry often rely on people ignoring what they know and thinking outside the box. It’s a pretty powerful thing.
Ms. Elise
March 13, 2012 @ 5:09 pm
Except, from your above comment, it seems like you’re arguing that education is bad because the more “educated” people are (I assume this means years in school) the less likely they are to change their minds. That’s just a rather . . . weird statement, imho. Do you have a link to the study/article you can give us? It would be nice to have more context.
Chris
March 13, 2012 @ 5:32 pm
I was trying to point out that there’s not necessarily a direct correlation between education and understanding. The study was just a convenient example of the exact opposite. People are still people and tend to ignore things they don’t like and hold on to things they do.
I’ve been trying to find a link to that study since I first posted, it must have been longer ago than I thought…