That really is the question of the day, huh? Can there be, really, complete Freedom of Speech?
According to the Constitution, yes. You can not get into trouble or be persecuted for saying something. The media and press can publish whatever they like without being prosecuted (so long as it's accurate). According to most pornography spreaders and hate-spreading web sites, Freedom of Speech exists. Hell, I found a site this afternoon where people could securely order date-rape drugs complete with instructions - and I'll bet they are hiding behind Freedom of Speech as well to keep their site up and running.
Why is it that the strongest advocates for Freedom of Speech are always the ones abusing it?
At any rate, do we really have it? Today's world seems to be built on the idea of tolerance instead of Freedom of Speech. What? You can't have tolerance and Freedom of Speech? Well, duh...
You see, Freedom of Speech implies that if I come across a stupid person and want to call him stupid, I can. And after I call him stupid, I cannot be persecuted and I cannot get into trouble. People might not like it - but who cares, I am exercising my right to Freedom of Speech.
Tolerance on the other hand means that if all I want to do is call him stupid, I should keep my mouth shut. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." What fun is there in that? In other words, people of society would rather I forego my Freedom of Speech to help promote tolerance.
Why do I feel like we're all headed for a bad rendition of the "Stepford Wives"?
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You are confusing the law with good manners.
Perhaps I listed a poor example with the "calling someone stupid" bit, but I don't really mean manners. And so far as I know, tolerance is not a law (with exception to the many discrimination laws), but something many people strive for.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/user/fanaile-drupal-org
Maybe we feel that not all of us have freedom of speech, so we figure that we have to have tolerance to make it fair. For example, with Gays and Lesbians, since a lot of people feel that they are not getting equal protection under the law like marriage rights etc, people feel that we should refrain from comments like "That's so gay." After all, if they are not getting total freedom of speech (freedom to express themselves by how they live) then maybe we can grant them protection (tolerance) by monitoring our speech.
We do have this right some what but it's very limited. Police will arrest anyone that yells bomb on an airplane. Then again we do have the right to say what we want right, with a bunch of exceptions stated under laws passed.