This post will be short. And though it may sound political,
I assure you it is not.
As a writer, I am a staunch supporter and advocate of free
speech. For me, it is the well-spring from which all other freedoms are drawn.
Without it, I would not be able to create. Rather, I would have to conform to a
prescribed format that fit the narrative of those who have decided for you and
for me what may or may not be said and heard. Great stories would have never
been told. Entire genres of literature would not exist. Music and art would be
lifeless and uniform. But it goes deeper than the aesthetic.
Without free speech, there is no innovation. Science and
technology are based on ideas and flights of fancy. And when minds are stifled and
ideas controlled, the imagination required to turn mere concepts into world
changing advances evaporates. There is no moon landing, cell phones, personal
computers, internet, GPS, quantum mechanics, cosmology, medical breakthroughs,
or any of the thousands of things we have come to depend upon and that make our
lives both richer and longer.
It is a challenge to listen to speech you find repulsive and
offensive. But if my right to free speech meant I had to listen attentively for
an hour every day to someone who makes my blood boil and my skin crawl…I would
suffer it gladly.
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