How free is your freedom of speech?

I don’t have to please anyone to earn my daily bread anymore. Politically, I don’t give a shit what people think of me.

I tend to say what’s on my mind.

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” – Evelyn Beatrice Hall.

You do have the freedom to say what you want. I will take being offended by the words of others any day before I allow someone to take their right (or my right) away to say it.

I say what I want, when I want to say it. I just choice not to always say what is on my mind at any given moment if I know it will hurt the person I say it to. Majority of the time, I’d rather not hurt someone else.

Freedom of speech is still free, just not on fluther.

You can say whatever you want.. Just don’t cry in a corner when people call you stupid or beat the shit out of you.

People confuse “freedom of speech” with “freedom from criticism”. You can say what you want. There is no penalty.

If people disagree or disapprove, you are not being oppressed.

It’s actually 99 cents for the first 60 minutes, 35 cents for each additional minute.

Freedom of speech is not in as much trouble as the freedom of ears.

Where I am at, you can say anything you want, as long as it’s politically correct, you can also express yourself in any way you want, as long as it’s politically correct as well. If you do or say something that is politically incorrect, you can expect some sort of punishment, normally very harsh.

I say whatever I want. I don’t intend to purposely hurt anyone else, ever, but I’m not at all worried about opposing points of view.

People who always say what’s on their mind become pariahs like Howard Stern. I love them, though, as long as there’s some intelligence there

@Seaofclouds I just choice not to always say what is on my mind at any given moment if I know it will hurt the person I say it to. That in part validates what I believe, that if you hold back saying what you want because someone will take offence to it is like saying you have the freedom to ride your bike in San Francisco but choose not to because drivers of vehicles will get annoyed or put off because they have to stop for you or make space instead of just speeding on their way. Self-censoring is not much better than having someone tell you “you can’t say that”.

@augustlan I say whatever I want. I don’t intend to purposely hurt anyone else, ever, but I’m not at all worried about opposing points of view. As many believe they do, but still they don’t or can’t say whatever because someone always take offence. Tea Partiers say a lot of things about illegals, Muslim ties to terrorist, etc and they get blasted for it. How many politicians lost their position because of what came out of their mouth? The press got hold of it and people labeled them this or that and people who might have been allies distance themselves from that person in order not to be tainted.

@jaytkay You can say what you want. There is no penalty. There is always a penalty maybe just not an official penalty. I can state what I believe is a fact or logical conclusion and someone will be offended; maybe many. If I say it on the job the penalty might be I get fired. If I

Well, if people want to say idiotic things, they’re perfectly free to. We’re also perfectly free to call them idiotic.

Freedom of speech to me is defined within the confines of the law.

The First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech refers to the freedom to speak freely regarding politics and/or against the government without government interference and without government retribution. The government may limit that speech as to time, manner, and place. They may not limit the content except for hate speech likely to incite violence. The term “free speech” is used by the public at large to describe the right for one to open one’s mouth but that has nothing to do with the Constitutional right.

@Hypocrisy_Central ”Self-censoring is not much better than having someone tell you “you can’t say that”.”

Isn’t it? It’s your choice to self-censor. If you want to say something, you absolutely can. But if you can’t or don’t want to deal with people having opposing opinions, you can choose to keep it to yourself. Your rights aren’t being denied. It’s a personal preference to avoid conflict and/or debate. Are you suggesting that anybody and everybody should be able to express any opinion totally unchallenged? How is that in any way positive or productive?

Oooh now let’s see. I feel free to say whatever I choose. Why I can sit here & in a loud & steady voice confidently state, without fear of contradiction that “gay men suck”. Freedom of speech? Dontcha just love it!! ;¬} Right before anyone falls out of their lofty perch, that quote is entirely ironic & loaded with affection. If you get my drift :¬)

I don’t feel free to comment.

So, you feel your freedom of speech is being impaired by others’ freedom of speech? Anybody else see the irony here?

I think a good partner to freedom of speech is concept of time and place or tact.

Just because you can say what you want, doesn’t mean you should if you wish to avoid certain outcomes.

We would all do well to take a breath and size up your audience before running off at the mouth.

Unless, of course, your goal is to offend everyone within earshot – then please, just flap away.

@Hypocrisy_Central When I said I choose not to because I don’t want to hurt people, I meant I refrain from saying hurtful things to that person. Offending people is different and I don’t really worry about who gets offended by what I say. I don’t feel like I censor myself. I just don’t like hurting the people I care about.

Re: “gay men suck”—A lot of them do. And quite well, thank you very much!

@MacBean That was exactly my point, & no thank YOU very much!!

Someone once told me “The freedom to swing your fist ends where the other fellow’s nose begins”.

I think that’s a good rule to live by.

It’s funny how Liberals expouse freedom of speech and how wonderful it is to be able to express their “leftist” , bleeding heart views, but as soon as someone says something “politically incorrect” and with a “right-ward” slant, he is talked down and crucified. Freedom of speech for me is the ability to speak my mind without fear of being attacked, no matter how politically incorrect I may be, for that is true freedom of speech and democracy.

@MRSHINYSHOES But wouldn’t that mean that you’d have the freedom to speak your mind, and the liberals… wouldn’t?

@augustlan Shut your whore mouth and get back in the kitchen and make my dinner. Your earth logic has no place here. Ugh. Women need to re-learn their place. Where did the 1950s go? ~

Freedom of speech for me is the ability to speak my mind without fear of being attacked, no matter how politically incorrect I may be, for that is true freedom of speech and democracy.

So the conservative definition of freedom of speech is “Anyone who disagrees with me must be silenced!”

@jaytkay ; ooh, snap!

Come on, guys. We should leave him alone and let him say whatever he wants. After all, he’s not going to come after any of us for what we think. Conservatives never do that!

@augustlan I didn’t say the Liberals wouldn’t have a chance to speak their minds. They could, and they always do. It seems that they speak more and are allowed to speak more when they want, and whenever a conservative rightist speaks, he/she gets shouted down or attacked immediately. A good example is Ann Coulter. I don’t agree with some of the things she says, but whenever she speaks at universities or other “learned halls” (as an invited guest no less), she gets hollered at and crucified, just like the time she was invited to speak at an engagement at Toronto University but had to cancel it because of death threats. Liberals seem to get their way more often, and that’s just not right.

Um, Ann Coulter is the devil’s spawn. Just sayin’.

@MRSHINYSHOES I’m sorry, but now you’re just whining. If Ann Coulter didn’t want people to disagree with her, she should have said something more agreeable or at least respectable. People disagree all the time without “death threats”. I can’t think of any conservative rightists off the top of my head that I respect, but I think that’s probably because very few of them rise to any sort of prominence without being disagreeable.

You have the right to say whatever you want, and I have the right to respond however I want. Complaining that you don’t have free speech because someone else is using theirs is childish at best.

Liberals, conservatives….there are no real liberals or no real concervatives, we all fall in the middle just closer to one end of the pool or the other. Speaking your mind can get you “strung up” so to speak no matter who or what you call yourself.

@Seek_Kolinahr It’s obvious you don’t like Ann Coulter. Lol.

Like has nothing to do with it.

I didn’t like Tony Blair either, but he’s never said anything I’ve found disrespectful. Stupid, maybe, but not disrespectful.

followup Freedom of speech is not free, or not as free as in the real world, or is it just other places on the Web…..