Hello, Mr. Censorship!

October 25, 2010

Where does censorship start and impeded free speech begin?

This is a question every artist needs to think about. At what point are you being censored and when is your First Amendment right is being denied to you? These are two very different things. I’ve been thinking about this ever since the noise machine at Fox started crying about Media Matters getting a donation and that their criticisms of Fox reporting (and I use the term very loosely) constitutes an attack on free speech.

Warning: Beck paranoia and self-importance on the way.

In case you’re wondering, he’s full of crap on his accusations.

Let’s get a few things out of the way first.

The First Amendment guarantees your right to free expression. I could say I want to have sex with dolphins or that I am the Aztec god of death. I can say whatever I wish as long as it does not pose an immediate threat. It’s the reason you can’t yell “Fire” in a crowded room unless there actually is a fire. Someone could get hurt in the ensuing stampede. It’s also the reason people inciting violent action can be arrested or why some of us are accusing Beck of inciting attempted mass murder.

However, you are not free of criticism. The instant you throw your hat in the ring, you’re free game. And that’s what a lot of conservatives seem to be missing.

The Face of Conservatism by ~gl0wstick on deviantART

Look to the right of the page. See those skyscraper banners running ads for HostGator and some ads from Project Wonderful? If I start writing things my sponsors don’t like, they are free to yank the code and take their business elsewhere. They are paying to show their ads here because they either think they get good exposure or they want to support what I do. It’s a business arrangement. The moment I write something they don’t like, they can leave.

Much like advertisers have been leaving Glenn Beck, and now Fox, for the last year.

Now that there is an organized boycott against Beck, he’s shouting and whining that his First Amendment right, his freedom of speech, is being attacked. The sad truth is… Beck is whining about entitlement, something that (shock!) a self-described libertarian would never do.

See, Beck thinks that by people not supporting him, by groups calling on advertisers to pull their business, his right to speak and express himself is under attack. Want to know what it really is under attack? It’s business. No one’s trying to censor him. This is the same free capitalism Beck and conservatives are always touting as the greatest contribution to society since Reagan.

Reagan – Whatta Guy by ~RCrisp on deviantART

If you have a product to sell, you make a good product. If people don’t like it, they don’t buy it.

Words and ideas are our product. The ideas and fiction in this site are my product. If people like them, they read and visit every day. If they don’t, they don’t come and my advertisers don’t get the exposure they need and I don’t make money.

If you draw a painting and no one buys it, your freedom of speech is not under attack. You either drew a bad painting or no one’s interested.

If you write a book and no one wants to publish it, you either wrote a crappy story or there isn’t a market for it.

Get the picture?

Censorship occurs when someone is silenced because their views are considered inflammatory, harmful, or someone in power uses that power to silence them. If schools punish students for expressing their views, that’s censorship. If the government silences reporters for telling the truth, that’s censorship. If someone hacks this site because he or she doesn’t agree with what I say in order to silence me, that’s censorship. Everything from military censorship to religious censorship can infringe on free speech. These groups do not have the right to tell others what to say.

There’s one very fine distinction between this and what some keep calling “attacks on free speech.”

Free Speech isnt FREE by ~kikixD on deviantART

I am not entitled to this website. I am not entitled to sponsors. I am, however, entitled to my opinion. If someone doesn’t like it, they can debate me on it. They can call me out if I say something incorrect. They can criticize my art for not being good enough.

None of this, however, is an attack on free speech. It’s called criticism, and if you can’t handle it, don’t create art. Don’t write. Don’t paint. Don’t express your views. You will be attacked, criticized, and torn apart.

Either accept that others will disagree with you, or get off the internet. Here, we eat our own wounded and poke the survivors just to hear their screams. Wear a cup.

Oh Internet Poster by *PaulSizer on deviantART

And now, for some funny fun-fun.

• A death metal band that sings in Klingon? I didn’t watch Trekkies 2, so I missed this one. If they kill cowards on stage with a bat’leth, I am all over this. Also, is it sad that i knew what their name meant before reading the article?

• If you have a book-lover in your life, check out this online store of rare and old books. Some of them go into the thousands, but a few are affordable for most people, especially if you save, and Christmas is coming up!

• I almost laughed when I heard that there was a real-life incident of Snakes on a Plane, but it involved a gator. Then I found out it was real and people died and I felt bad for laughing. Oops.

• Can someone please explain to me our society’s addiction with keeping up with people who peaked almost twenty years ago? Why, WHY, are we following Vanilla Ice’s house renovation career? I saw this comic, and, while funny, it’s all I could take. How could this be a show?!

• I’m always weary of “vs” movies, but this one actually looks really fun, and not just because it involves Japanese schoolgirls, swords, and lots of blood.

• And finally, this is a pretty good summary of every political ad in the last five years. Also, points to petercoffin for breaking it down grammatically. Link and share, and watch for Divine by Zero tomorrow!