Who do you hate?

America wants to know.

photo by Pixabay

Who/what do you hate?  Let’s find out.  Check off the statements that are closest to your own views (No need to write them down, unless you want to): 

I hate capitalism. 

I hate progressives. 

I hate socialists. 

I hate conservatives. 

I hate Christian fundamentalists. 

I hate Muslims. 

I hate liberals. 

I hate Jews. 

I hate rich people. 

I hate censorship. 

I hate poor people. 

I hate white people. 

I hate urban people. 

I hate democrats. 

I hate rural people. 

I hate republicans. 

I hate Trump. 

I hate Biden. 

Now, let me guess how many of these groups/people you hate… None of them.  Right?  Bu..bu…but…then why is there all this talk about hate speech?  Somebody must be doing the hate speech, right? It’s not you, and it’s not me, so it must be…Well, WHO?   

Now, let me tweak the question.  OK, you don’t hate anybody, and you don’t express hate, but how do you react when you hear someone else express hate?  How do you react when you hear someone say they hate Trump?  How about when they say they hate Biden? (And expressing hate doesn’t have to involve the word ‘hate’.) I’m going to make a prediction:  You have different reactions between when people express hate of Biden or of Trump.  You think it’s terrible what they say about the one, but you have little reaction about the other.  Am I right?  If I’m right, what does that say about you?  Think about it.  I’ll wait….. 

How about expressions of intolerance of whites or blacks?  When you hear such statements, do you react negatively in either case, or only in one?  Why? 

You get the picture.  Rich/poor. Democrat/Republican. Capitalism/socialism.  Progressives/Christian fundamentalists. You would do well to consider what constitutes an opinion, and what constitutes hate speech. 

Don’t just think in terms of which of any of these you favor, think in terms of when or if you ever correct anyone for expressing hatred or intolerance of any of these people or beliefs. Chances are, you never do.  Why not? Perhaps this is why not: You hang with people you identify with.  You like them.  You share their beliefs.  So, when they express hate, you don’t react very forcefully because, well, they’re your friends.  And besides, they hate don’t like the same people you hate don’t like.  It’s certainly not that you have never heard hatred and intolerance expressed by people you know, right?  

We hear incessantly about all this hate speech.  Yeah, it’s there, all right. And it needs censoring, right?  Wrong.  Let’s ignore for a moment WHAT needs censoring and consider WHO will DO the censoring.  Should conservatives be in charge of it?  Liberals?  Muslims?  Christians?  Atheists?  Urban folks?  Rural folks?  Rich people?  Poor people? 

Are you seeing a problem here?  Should people who don’t react to hate speech against Christians and conservatives be in charge of censorship?  Or should people who don’t react to hate speech against liberals and Jews be in charge of censorship?  Or should we put it to a vote?  You know, democracy.  That way, the majority, whoever it might be, gets to censor the minority.  Well, that’s fair, right?  Try to get the minority to go along with that!  Don’t they have PRECISELY the same constitutional rights as the majority?  Damn right, they do. 

Looks like those dried up old founding fathers got it right in the first place.  NO censorship.  Period.  No vote, no nothing.  Yes, you can make it illegal to shout ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater (although there are times when that’s legal too; like when the theater is on fire. Or even if a person thinks the theater is on fire.  Yes, it gets pretty tricky, pretty quickly.) 

I remember, years ago, I heard a guy on a call-in show saying that he supported censorship on one condition; that HE was the one doing the censoring.  I agree with him. Except that I should be the one doing the censoring.  And perhaps you agree, as long as YOU are the one doing the censoring. 

A few things, and I’ll finish up.  All of the examples of hate speech in the above list get said every day.  No, it shouldn’t happen, but it does. It is a first amendment right to express hate.  If it were illegal, and all who did it were sent to jail, the majority of politicians would be in jail right now….Hmmmmm….NO, no we can’t do that.  

Earlier in my life, there was none of this trash about censoring hate speech.  People respected both the fact and the principle of the constitution.  Now, we have totalitarians who will stop at nothing, no principle, no ethics, nothing, to gain control by any means possible.  Yes, send THEM to prison.  They are, in fact, criminals and traitors. 

I tried to find videos that would make my point.  There’s plenty of videos about hate, and plenty of videos that are hateful.  The videos come from both ‘sides’, not one side.  And most are actually at least somewhat accurate.  But they are all one-sided.  I wanted to find one that was even-handed, showcasing/exposing hatred from both ‘sides’.  I could find no such video.  Perhaps that explains a lot.  If you are sure that you are on the ‘right’ side, you are not.  I know this because, at least in regard to hate speech, both sides are wrong. But, they have a right to be wrong.  They have a right to express it.  Suck it up, buttercup. 

But I did find this one video, which at least alludes to this topic.  It’s worth watching although, regardless of your point of view, you will probably find things to not like about it. And that in itself might make it worth watching. 

Owens and FreshandFit

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