Freedom of Speech Goes Both Ways

Not long ago I engaged in a disagreement with a random person online who was of the opinion that a British cockney accent is the same as a New Zealand accent.

Yeah this one is starting out weird, but bear with me.

Anyway, it is not. To anyone who has an ear for language, the differences are distinct and notable. Certainly, any New Zealander or Brit will tell you so. But this person evidently did not have a good ear (or brain, since his claim didn't make any lingustic or geographical sense), and couldn't discern the difference. When I told him he was wrong, he uttered the following sentence:

"Oh, I guess we're not allowed to have our own opinions anymore!"

I've heard this before, and it has always left me confused. When arguing, I've expressed that my opponent's statements are incorrect, ill-informed, or sometimes outright stupid, but at no point have I ever suggested that they not be allowed to state them, let alone have them! (Incidentally, if I want them to shut up, I sure shoot myself in the foot by pursuing an argument with them.) There is no parallel here whatsoever, and yet I've heard similar things everywhere, from matters of frivolous opinion to statements that are definitely and demonstrably false. If there's anything worse than a stupid argument, it's an irrelevant one. However, I think I have an idea of what its origins are.

I think it's a massive, distorted overflow from the political correctness movement. Specifically, we've been told that the best (if not the only) thing to do in an argument is to agree to disagree (and I fucking hate that phrase, by the way). Certainly, this is sometimes the most logical solution...or a solution to use in order to avoid pointless or unnecessary conflict, but these people have apparently taken it to mean that we should never express criticism of anybody's statements ever, even when they can be proven false! In turn, this jives with the notion that all opinions are created equal, and it's the same reason why politicians, TV shows, and news programs consult homeopaths and psychics alongside doctors and detectives as a means of "balance."

In addition to being close to impossible as well as completely unproductive, the whole idea carries with it a fundamental hypocrisy. Look carefully at my example. Who is really trying to squelch whom? By suggesting that I'm not allowed to express my opinion that someone is wrong, they are in fact censoring me! People educated in sociology or political science know very well that the Conservative/Liberal divide is in fact not a left or right division at all - it's a circle. Become so liberal that you begin suppressing free speech in the interest of not offending anyone, and you've crossed the midpoint and become exactly the same as any radical conservative who censors people he doesn't like to hear. Many liberals would balk at this, but it's absolutely true. Perhaps they really do dream of a day when a person can say that Richard Simmons is Indian or that pineapples can grow on the surface on the moon and be met with smiles and the phrase, "well, you're entitled to your opinion." I don't know about you, but living in a society like that sounds just as horrible to me as living in any Fascist state.

I would be remiss if I did not also state the obvious - that all opinions are not created equal, and how coincidental it is that the people trying to get others to shut up often have positions that are very weak in the logic and evidence department. Gee whiz, I wonder why that is?

Here's the bottom line: You have a right to have your own thoughts and opinions as well as the right to state them, and I have the right to express that they are moronic. Free speech does not mean "free speech as long as you agree or as long as you're nice about it." The moment you open your mouth in a public forum, everyone in earshot has free reign to chew up your brain droppings and spit them out along with everybody else. That's how it is, that's how it should be, and any outside attempt to protect your fragile sensibilities will inevitably infringe on the rights of others. If you want your ideas to go unchallenged, then you can always go find a place where everyone else agrees with you and express yourself there. But the free market of ideas is dog-eat-dog, and free speech goes both ways. Deal with it.