Freedom of Expression

By now, everyone in America, and many around the world, are familiar with what went down in Charlottesville, Virginia. A group of "White Supremacists" decided to hold a rally, chanting such charming things as "Black Lives Don't Matter" and "We're Taking Our Country Back". So-called "Anti-Protesters", people who stand against their rhetoric, also showed up, to try and shout them down, or at the very least, one would suppose, show that people won't sit at home while these kinds of fools march around. But then, as things often do, especially in today's tense and troubled times, shit got real. Violence erupted, and in the escalation, some asshole decided to take a page out of ISIS' notebook, and drove his car into a crowd of "Anti-Protesters". Many people were injured, and one woman died. This act was ignorant, and evil, as are these words. The fact that an American emulated the Islamic Terrorist tactics of driving cars into crowds, is pretty terrifying, and I doubt it'll be the last instance.

However, while I have no love whatsoever for so-called "Nazis" (although let's be honest, no matter what they call themselves, these Home Depot clowns aren't Nazis), there is something worth musing, that I have posited myself elsewhere, that few seem to actually want to step up and answer. That being: If the driver had been one of the "ANTIFA" (aka Liberal) protesters, driving into a crowd of the "White Supremacists", how many of the people (rightly) decrying this act, would be the exact same people cheering it? If it had been an "SJW" killing a "Nazi" with their car, how many of these same people would be applauding them and calling them a "Hero"?

My guess, is quite a few. A lot more than most people would likely want to admit. As a "Person of Color" (though I dislike the term) myself, of mixed-ancestry, I have experienced bigotry and "racism" from all quarters. I've been attacked for looking non-white. I've been attacked for being white. I've been attacked for my Middle-Eastern heritage. I've been attacked for "still being too white to have a voice in PoC issues", etc. etc. etc.

But my thing is this. Are these "White Supremacist" idiots and ignorant assholes? Absolutely. 100%. Few are going to actually try to make a solid argument against that. But are every single one of them "EVIL"? Probably not. A lot of them, outside of this retarded group, outside of the fervor and the paranoia and the hate, are probably decent people, with jobs, and friends, and family, some even children. Should they be beaten, or threatened, or doxed? Should their families be threatened by association? Should they and their families lives be ruined? No, they shouldn't. 1. Because that isn't going to fix or solve anything. And 2. Because that is exact the disgusting, ignorant kinds of actions that many on the "Left" accuse many of the "Right" of already doing. It is endemic of the reality of this entire situation: that it's an endless Feedback Loop, with people on one side getting more aggressive and vile, which spurs the other side to escalate, etc. etc. But that is a topic for another day.

The biggest question is: Should hate speech be tolerated? Should bigoted, racist rhetoric, even in the form of "Free Speech Demonstrations", be allowed in public forums? I will admit, because they are either indirectly or sometimes directly advocating violence and harm to others, there is an argument to be made that NO, it shouldn't be allowed. But, on that same token, if we're going to shut down this kind of thing, then we should also shut down "Black Lives Matter" protests that go far beyond their original purpose, and devolve into straight up racism and bigotry themselves, carrying signs and yelling out things like "FUCK ALL WHITE PEOPLE", and "THE WORLD NEEDS LESS WHITES". And those are just some of the nicer things I've seen.

The problem with Freedom, is that everyone ELSE around you has it too. I have long said that "The True Price of Freedom, is Having to Tolerate The Freedom of Others". It isn't sending people to foreign wars to kill people, because rich folks who run shit say so. The true Price of Freedom, is that I have the freedom to say whatever the fuck I want, and so does some redneck piece of trash who wants to wave a Nazi flag. That is America. You're allowed to be a Nazi if you want to be a Nazi, unfortunately. Just as much as you are allowed to be a white-hating "Black Supremacist" who preaches a mythological doctrine which states that ALL white people are biologically evil, animals less than human, and need to be wiped out. Yes, those people exist, because I've run into them FAR too many times online. Two sides of the same, hideous coin, if you ask me.

Me personally? I don't WANT to live in a world where "White Supremacists", or "Black Supremacists" or "Muslim Supremacists" or "Christian Supremacists", or ANY of those kinds of hateful assholes, exist. However, this is the world we live in. And I happen to value my Freedom of Expression. For my Freedom of Expression to have ANY real value and worth, I have to believe that it applies to EVERYONE, not just me, and not just people who say things I like or approve of. But everyone. Even the hateful, ignorant, mouth-breathing assholes. I say, let people hang themselves with their own words. LET them be racists, LET them hold rallies and look like the fucking idiots they are. And then let people publicly CONDEMN them for it, and point OUT what racist troglodytes they really are.

But to shut down Free Speech? To shut down rallies and protests? That is a slippery slope. Where does it end? Shutting down their Youtube channels and blogs and websites? Making it "illegal" to publicly even SAY racist things at all? In some sense, that ALMOST seems justified. But then what's next? Coming after OTHER "harmful" or "radical" ideologies? Coming after people like me, who like to express myself, with colorful language and sometimes, yes, "Radical" ideas of my own? If we start becoming a Society of Censorship, instead of a Society of Free Expression, I'm sorry, but that is not the society I want to live in.

As an artist, a writer, a person, I value my ability to say whatever the hell I feel like, and as a grown ass adult, I'll deal with the consequences. And if we start shutting down protests, and then shutting down dialogue and discussion, shutting down people's ability to speak and express themselves, REGARDLESS of what they have to say... where does that end? Because if it ends with me ALSO getting censored, told "You can't say that" or "You can't talk about that", "You can't write about that". You know what? Fuck that, and fuck anyone who would want to do that to me. I don't WANT racist assholes to spread their idiocy. But I DO want to be able to express MYSELF without restraint. So unfortunately, for that to mean anything real, THOSE clowns have to have the same right that I have. I don't even remotely value WHAT they have to say. But I do feel obligated to value their RIGHT to say it.