I don’t know about you…but I am seeing a whole lotta outrage and misspelled words on the social medias these days.
I think a whole lot of Americans are confusing freedom of speech with freedom to be an asshole so I thought I would just climb on into the swampy swimming pool of history to let y’all in on a little secret…freedom of speech doesn’t mean you get to be a dick.
“Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction.” Wikipedia
Freedom of speech came around because of this term ———————> “Lèse-majesté, a French term meaning “to do wrong to majesty”, is an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.” Wikipedia
When the Constitution was written, freedom of speech was critical because the founding fathers wanted to be able so say whatever they felt without the government coming for them.
Basically George and his cronies wanted to run ramshod over their new nation without people locking them in a dungeon for doing so.
Enter America in 2019. Dumpster fire. False outrage. Bad grammar and worse spelling.
False outrage has come to mean, “I am in charge of the dialogue,” which translated means, “I am triggered and I am coming for you stranger lady who I don’t even know.”
This is not a debate. This is not a dialogue. It is shitty arguing with a 3 year old and it is exhausting.
According to genius philosopher Matthew Denckla, “People today are confused between righteous indignation and throwing a tantrum.”
So what can you do about it?
Remember that Mother Goose were rhymes written as political satire because people in those days couldn’t challenge the king.
Remember that every single one of us is a living breathing human being (unless we are a Russian bot but that is a different blog post) and we have lives and loves and families and histories that are rich and layered and full of emotion.
Remember to be nice. Don’t let your thoughts get in the way of your feelings.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH isn’t about getting up on your high horse and verbally eviscerating people you are throwing judgement on. FREEDOM OF SPEECH is the ability to say what you feel without the government coming for you and those are two completely different things.
Have you enrolled in Rebel School yet? If you are ready to harness your inner rebel for good and not evil then join me for this 3 month EPIC program where I take you from rebel without a cause to rebel with a mission. APPLY TODAY!
It’s Friday y’all…mess it up! xoxo, Dr. Melissa Bird