My Soapbox. My Rules.
Posts and conversations today have got me thinking about something.
I hate to break it to people, and I know it's going to upset some people, but there really is no such thing as 'free speech.' You don't actually get to say whatever you want wherever you want, with no consequences.
Ideally, it's a lovely thought. Realistically... it just ain't happenin' folks. And while I've never had problems here, in this journal, it could happen at any time. Which is why I screen all comments from people I haven't explicitly cleared.
I've got no problem with free speech. You want to wave your placards and scream your slogans, fine. Don't stand in my front-yard to do it.
See, that's what a lot of people forget. I have a friend (yes, you... you know it's you) who ran a BBS, and his policy was that if there was a particularly offensive message or something, he maintained the power to delete it. Why? Because it was his computer. He wasn't saying people couldn't express their opinions, or in that way, but that they couldn't do it there. If they wanted to do it on their own computers, they could go right ahead.
The same applies here (and to everybody else who has a journal, a blog, or maintains a community). My journal, my point of view. If I want to delete you, ban you, or tell you to fuck off before doing so, that's my right. If you want to keep screaming, open your own journal and write your own post on the topic, and if you want to ban me from the conversation there, then that's your right.
See, that's where people make the mistake. They think that simply because something is on the internet, that it is a public forum. Wrong. Almost everything on the internet is a private forum of some type or another. If the people running it want to delete you, tough shit.
Same with the fact that if the forum that banned you carries a wider audience that you can get on your own. I don't delude myself that this is read by more than a few people, ever. So, my voice may not ever be heard on the subject, beyond a few. Again, that's the tough-shit state of an information economy. Some people are able to disseminate more information than others. There is no equality, online or elsewhere. Life sucks. Take it or leave it.
So... you don't like what I have to say, fine. You want to disagree with me? I'm not opposed to that. You want to abuse me? Attack me? Take a hike. You want to push your own agenda? Use your own space. Not mine.
Call it censorship if you want. Just don't waste your time doing it here, because no one will even know you said it.
That's the other thing about freedom. The freedom to take the consequences.
I hate to break it to people, and I know it's going to upset some people, but there really is no such thing as 'free speech.' You don't actually get to say whatever you want wherever you want, with no consequences.
Ideally, it's a lovely thought. Realistically... it just ain't happenin' folks. And while I've never had problems here, in this journal, it could happen at any time. Which is why I screen all comments from people I haven't explicitly cleared.
I've got no problem with free speech. You want to wave your placards and scream your slogans, fine. Don't stand in my front-yard to do it.
See, that's what a lot of people forget. I have a friend (yes, you... you know it's you) who ran a BBS, and his policy was that if there was a particularly offensive message or something, he maintained the power to delete it. Why? Because it was his computer. He wasn't saying people couldn't express their opinions, or in that way, but that they couldn't do it there. If they wanted to do it on their own computers, they could go right ahead.
The same applies here (and to everybody else who has a journal, a blog, or maintains a community). My journal, my point of view. If I want to delete you, ban you, or tell you to fuck off before doing so, that's my right. If you want to keep screaming, open your own journal and write your own post on the topic, and if you want to ban me from the conversation there, then that's your right.
See, that's where people make the mistake. They think that simply because something is on the internet, that it is a public forum. Wrong. Almost everything on the internet is a private forum of some type or another. If the people running it want to delete you, tough shit.
Same with the fact that if the forum that banned you carries a wider audience that you can get on your own. I don't delude myself that this is read by more than a few people, ever. So, my voice may not ever be heard on the subject, beyond a few. Again, that's the tough-shit state of an information economy. Some people are able to disseminate more information than others. There is no equality, online or elsewhere. Life sucks. Take it or leave it.
So... you don't like what I have to say, fine. You want to disagree with me? I'm not opposed to that. You want to abuse me? Attack me? Take a hike. You want to push your own agenda? Use your own space. Not mine.
Call it censorship if you want. Just don't waste your time doing it here, because no one will even know you said it.
That's the other thing about freedom. The freedom to take the consequences.