1/3 of Americans don't want free speech anymore?

One crazy thing I've been hearing lately is that the number of Americans who think the 1st Amendment goes "too far" has more than doubled since last year. Last time, it was 13%. Now it's 34%. Are you kidding me? Now I can't help worrying that it may wind up going over 50% in the next year.

I know some of you are going to say it's all a farce anyway... that it's already an illusion, and we don't really have that kind of freedom at all, but that just means we have to fight even more desperately to assert ourselves and get our rights back, and this destructive "Oh, it just isn't worth bothering with anymore" attitude is going to kill the nation.


I've read posts by some particularly naive people who say things like "People like the Westboro Baptist Church shouldn't have the right to free speech. We need to shut people like that up to make the America a nicer, gentler place".

Here's the thing... The people of the Westboro Baptist Church are deplorable assholes. They are vile, nasty people who bleed venom and have nothing good to bring into the world.

That said... if they don't have the right to spread their hate speech, then I don't have the right to call them deplorable assholes, and you don't have the right to say they shouldn't have the right to free speech.

This is not a complex issue, it's as black and white as it gets. Either we can say whatever we want, or we could all be censored. They have the right to say what they want, and we have the right to be louder than them and drown out their voices with our own. That said, shutting them up altogether simply because you don't like them is wrong, and once you've crossed that line, then anyone can censor someone they don't like, or someone they simply disagree with. Once you cross that line, there IS no point where you just "stop" again. It's no longer an issue about what's "more" offensive than anything else, what the "greater" or "lesser" evil is. There's no "reasonable" way to go about it, because once you start, you've already given up EVERYTHING.  Similarly, you have the right to suggest such things, but I have the right you call you out on that shit. We all need to be able to express ourselves, otherwise we'll be allowed to get away with saying less and less until we live in a future where you may wind up not having a say in anything.


"WHAT? You are displeased with your gruel? REMOVE HIS TONGUE AND TAKE HIM TO THE SHOWERS!"


......okay, that's a pretty extreme exaggeration, and it sounds pretty crazy, but hey, a kid was jailed for horsing around on League of Legends. Doesn't THAT sound a little too crazy to be true? Who's to say I couldn't go to jail just for writing this journal and speaking out then, huh?

I'm just so sick of seeing people left and right simply.... FORGETTING that they have the most basic of freedoms. I'm tired of hearing about teachers being fired and/or jailed for reminding their students that they have freedom. If people can just... forget what being an American IS ALL ABOUT, then there's simply no point to calling yourself an American any more, because it becomes a meaningless term, that's it.

I'm sick of people the world over finding yet ANOTHER reason to look down upon us Americans, saying that we're spineless, complacent cowards who will give up our rights and trust the state to care for all our needs, never doing anything for ourselves...

Actually, let me rephrase that. I'm NOT tired of them SAYING such things. You know why? Because they have the RIGHT to say it. IT'S FREE SPEECH. What I'm REALLY sick of is what they say BEING TRUUUUUUUE.