It's freedom of speech, not freedom from consequences

"But I have a right to say that because we believe in free speech?" Have you ever heard a defense like that? Chances are this was when that person had just said something offensive - unwittingly or not.

We hear so much about "free speech" in the media as it relates to the US specifically but I also want to recognize that this argument has been around for a long, long time now. I think there are some important, practical distinctions that we should make here which further help us understand this argument and its place in our society.

First off, there is no such thing as free speech - at least not in the way that people think that "free speech" is free speech. People want and understand free speech to be a license to say whatever the hell you want with zero consequences. You won't lose your job, you won't lose any relationship you have, you'll get just as much service as you did before, and so on.

But that's not practical and is not in effect how free speech works. Yes, the government isn't going to cart you off for proclaiming your love of Nazis or witchcraft but it sure as fuck isn't going to care about what happens to you in your job and your personal life for saying these things. So basically, you're not going to be criminally prosecuted for your beliefs but you may not benefit from yelling about them either.

And as a brief but important aside while we're on the point, the internet has made this entire problem so much worse. Now people can hide behind IP addresses, sometimes circumvented by VPNs, and spew whatever the hell they want out into the ether from the safety of their keyboard and their relative anonymity. If not anonymity then there's at least a sense that nothing can happen to you for your behavior on the internet because it suddenly becomes "not real" when you're in trouble and at no other time. I hate this part of the internet and I hate this part about social media. It's worse when everyone is putting their own spin on everything despite having no demonstrable expertise in what they're talking about. This has been referred to in the media as the death of expertise and it has grown in recent years.

You're naïve if you think you can say anything you want in a public forum and have no repercussions whatsoever. Think about it. How the hell would people even support an approach to free speech where you had immunity in speech? The police aren't going to go around to every company and make sure it's not firing people for what they say and even then it's highly debatable (but not really) whether they should even do that in this scenario or not. Also, think about this: Do you want to be working alongside KKK members? Would that make you feel good? How far is too far if you support this notion.

What we say matters. Back in the nineties, it was very common for all of us growing up to say, "That's gay!" when we saw something bad or something we didn't like. Hell, I know some gay people who said that too because they felt that they should do it to fit in. Better than being persecuted, right? Today, that makes me sick and back then I didn't know any better. Can you imagine what it must have been like to make the mental calculation of "I'd better disparage myself because it's worse if they know who I am?" That's just insane. No wonder no one wanted to come out of the closet. Our language and what we were saying made it damn near impossible for them.

If we let these words stick around in our societal vocabulary, they will permeate into our consciousness and thus have an effect on our society. And it won't be a good one. Back to the example above, it's a far stretch to say it's easy to be gay today but it is a hell of a lot better than it was 30 years ago even if that difference is just a peg or two. Equality takes so damn long to achieve and carries so many benefits, it's a shame that we have to keep undermining it with our language.

So if you're mad that someone you know who is a good person other than a few instances of them being unintentionally racist faces some backlash for their stance, think about the above. It should be pretty obvious why people are pissed at them and besides - what the hell do they even have to gain by expressing this opinion. How in the name of God does that help someone in the long run? If it doesn't affect you personally, you're not supposed to care about it in an individualistic, capitalist society, right? And yes, I do in fact believe that the person in question might be good except for those comments but it doesn't mean that this person has preached any less hate. And if you want to fall back on the law and point to above where I wrote that they would not throw this person in jail for sharing their opinions then I'll also point to the part of the law where ignorance of it is not a defense from it.

People are complaining of censorship like there isn't already a lot of censorship. But no, it's just censorship if they don't like the thing that you like, right? The thing that you made a part of your identity because you felt that strongly about it? Yes, of course that personally offends you because you're a fan of something. So what about the internet? Do you want your kids to see all the child porn on the Dark Web or take out an assassination contract on someone? Oh, it's okay if that's censored then? What about TV? Do you not want your warnings anymore of sex, language, violence? No, that's okay because it benefits you?

Okay, you see the point, right? The point is people try to selectively apply the rules to themselves or other only when it suits them but don't have a grasp on what the rules even are or why they matter. When people are complaining about this, they are complaining about a perceived loss and they are complaining in a way dictated to them by major brands with political agendas who know exactly how to get people militant about something. Because it's not fun if someone says, "I don't know the facts, let me ask an expert." No, you've got to be your own doctor, dentist, mechanic, carpenter, banker, roofer, and whatever other arcane shit you can come up with. God forbid, we admit that we don't know something despite the fact that we obviously can't know everything. Medical science? Conventional science? Ah, that shit is fake because I don't understand it. Cowards. Admitting you don't know something is a power move. Learning that thing instead of pretending is an even better power move.

And just so we're clear, even after all of this, I'm not telling you what to say or not to say. I am encouraging you all not to be assholes and to have a care for others. And I'm encouraging you to make logical arguments, bounded by science and reason when expressing your opinions so as to make them valid. Yes, let's have dissenting opinions because diversity of thought is important but enough of these bad faith, ill-wrought arguments trying to convince us that people are being stifled or having their rights dismissed. Because they're not. They just either don't know how, or are too lazy to make the argument the right way. And another possibility that's even worse: they don't care to make arguments the right way because it's about them being right and not about what's right.