Freedom of Suppression

Freedom of suppression

In a democracy you assume that you have the right to express yourself in words, ideas and in art in any way which you chose. This is simply an assumption however. All too often we have to self censor or suffer the consequences of speaking our minds.

Today more so than ever, simple symbols offend people in ways that really should not. Take for example the swastika, this vile emblem of a horrid era in history is now almost an banned emblem. It is true that the flag and symbol of Nazi Germany can invoke those terrible memories of persecution and the very worse of 20th century suffering. But should it be banned and those that use it to express their ideologies be suppressed?

Yet to many a far worse and more sinister symbol is the horrid red star of communism, or the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union. Two emblems which in the past, even before the rise of the Nazi's and to this very day has suppressed, persecuted, tortured and murdered millions. On par, even with those dreaded Nazi's.

To many parts of Asia, the Rising Sun of Japan, once the proud battle flag of the Japanese Empire, flew high as thousands were slaughtered and imprisoned. Yet this flag is still an emblem of pride for the Japanese and does not in any way create out cry when flown here in the West. Not as bad as the Swastika, tell that to the survivors of Nanking or the Baatan death march.

Though why does one find themselves suffering a fine or persecution should they tastelessly fly the Swastika ? Yet go un noticed if they wear the hammer and sickle or the Red star ?

It seems that the left wing anti establishment types that love to define themselves by wearing such emblems really miss the point as to what these symbols have represented in the past. They over look the fact that millions died before the tyranny of the Soviet Union and Mao's China. Getting into a debate over which was worse is morbidly academic, but suppressing the freedom to fly one and then completely over looking the significance of the other is terribly ignorant.

To wear a Mao Tse Tung or Che Guevara face on ones shirt is a trendy thing to do these days, and has often been the fashion of those that have an ill thought out agenda. Those people who take advantage of a lax and liberal society by celebrating men, who stood to suppress the very freedom's enjoyed by these individuals. Men whose societies take away the very concept of individual, the thing that these 'protesting the system' take for granted.

The scariest thing of all in this time of mass ignorance is that their is no excuse for it. Now, more than any other time in history are we surrounded by so many mediums of information. We no longer have to travel to find facts and truth's, it is flooding us from within our homes. So many different news sources, so many different opinions so many exotic and esoteric factoids at hand, yet fewer people take note. Instead people are happy to frequent the common 'mass outlets' of information and digest with ease the simplified and PC versions of news and pop culture that drowns many a life.

With governments expressing desires to 'censor' the Internet whether the intention being that of political suppression or of moral policing, the truth of the matter is that the last un tamed frontier of free thought and ideals is soon to be firewalled so as to protect us from any bad images or ideas. Like a draconian parent that knows better, the government of many a nation figures it will do us a greater service in the long run.

Political Correctness has become the new Church as far as moral guidance is concerned, it is its own entity ever growing and its ranks swelling with the newly faithful. Those that believe in creating a heavily PC governed society that they are doing the right thing. This new machine of political correctness inserting its tendrils into every aspect of life and draining the life out of expression and creativity.

The wonderful thing of the Internet however is that it is a way for the individual to source agenda free information, from so many sources and outlets that it is almost limited by how many net connections their are. And one can also say what they please so long as some one is out there to listen, or read. Yet, people are offended. People blush with offence and insecurities at the idea that consenting adults participate in sexual acts, and use the Internet to share this. God Forbid. They also blush at the idea that some one may not believe in their respective theocratic moral code, and that blasphemy is as common as is the praise for their deity.

The simple fact is, that if people are easily offended don't google such a topic. Do not seek it. Leave it for others, we will always find things that we do not like, dis agree with or even offends our very core. The Internet does not belong to any one ideology, religion or government and to attempt to police it is idiotic and wrong.

Banning the internet and preventing people from accessing information is no different to burning books. It is a systematic suppression of information or data that contradicts with the accepted agenda or a regimes control.

Creating national fire walls will only send those offenders under ground and will simply slow up connection speeds. Let the information flow freely, let everyone have access to it. Ideals are not bad. It is the acts of violence, assault and theft that should be punished. Not opinions and flights of fancy, words and images are simply that.

It is not the role of any state or cultural police to determine what can and can not be said, what can and can not be viewed, what should or should not be heard and what is acceptable to be discussed. Every tyranny from Catholicism to Nazism has sought a means to control ideas and speach, it is suppressed and punished those with dissenting views in many a way and today in our modern society while the means are less than violent that goals are essentially the same.

Michael Richards showed us all recently that one can not say what they think in a public stage, even if 'nothing is taboo and all is uncensored' as many comedy clubs have proudly depicted themselves in the post Lenny Bruce-George Carlin era. The reality is, that comedy works so long as it does not slip of those rails of conformist 'correctness' and yelling racist obscenities can get one fined, even while bigot like, it is ones very right to do so. It seems we have entered an era of 'no no' topics, where the past has been white washed in the sense that absolute truths are over taking complicated realities.

When Michael Richards idiotically screamed that ever so forbidden 'N' word, that ironically is ever popular in so called 'music', he stepped over a line of accepted conduct. He broke no laws, yet his words enraged so many. He physically harmed no one, yet he upset so many. Whether you agree with what he said, or dis agree with him, the point is that it is his right to do so. And the best reaction to his bigotry was to leave the venue, as so many did.

Race relations have entered a new era, an era where minorities have greater freedoms of expression than those of a lighter complexion or a hetero back ground. It is an period, where 'political correctness' strikes fear into the hearts of the individual, press and places of business. Almost like a new McCarthy era has people with opinions, thoughts or jokes need to look over their shoulders so as not to be labelled 'racist', 'sexist' or whatever '-ist' one can conjure up. To be simply labelled is often bad enough, but to be black listed, fined and in a sense persecuted is an illegal form of punishment in a supposedly free society.

If all things are equal, then so should be standards of expression. Especially for those of us in a country where our constitutions allow us the right to say what we like, whether that be praise, correct truths or blatantly ignorant rants of bigotry. It is a very basic right. Just as it is your right not to listen, look or seek such information. And it was in critique and condemnation of the Jacobite regime that enemies of the Revolution were found, and while the guilotine sits idle, the sharp blades of punishment still are ready to fall on any that speaks out of line and against the conforming dialogue of acceptance.

But that is the consequence of freedom...that you share it with those you disagree with.

Viva La Revoltion, so long as what you say... is not revolutionary.

Jan 2009