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Originally Posted by ExtremePC
Wearing t-shirts with slogans meant to purposefully incite or enrage another group is NOT free speech, getting "inyourface" with a condom is NOT free speech. Both are purpose "built" to incite a negative reaction from the other side. I'd be more worried about the missuse of "freedom of speech" or are you under the impression that "freedom of speech" cannot be missused.
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The world must be taking a strange turn - I agree with you Extreme.
There is what I think a well thought-out blog on free speech and the responsibilies that should accompany it
here.
Quote:
We need to harmonise our freedom of speech with the ethical responsibility for the consequences of what we say.
Some questions to ponder:
- When does your right to free speech trump the dignity of others?
- When is it more important to preserve respectful and co-operative relations, even at the cost of holding one’s tongue?
- When is it better to adopt some intellectual humility, concede one is out of one’s depth, and just shut up?
- What does it mean for speech to be free, if the cost of that speech is high – in reputation, in psychic distress, in physical damage, or even in lives?
- Have we defended free speech if our remarks damage the social fabric that makes free speech possible?
As Spider-Man creator Stan Lee put it: “With great power comes great responsibility”. Perhaps the value of free speech would be better preserved if we took more notice of the latter than the former.
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