I care about this community. That is the real impetus of my posts. I came from very humble roots. I have been a first-hand witness to what a real insurrection looks like. An insurrection against a real oppressive power that silenced people and took their freedom of speech away. That's why the public discourse happening right now in the US seems so bewildering and petty. The people so inflamed with romanticizing about recreating the 1770's insurrection don't understand what real oppression looks like. But that is besides the point and not appropriate to discuss in this thread.
The statements I "deemed" as "offensive" where not "deemed" as such by me alone. They were called out by the online community in large numbers. They were indeed offensive. You can call someone a derogatory term or lie about them and then say it was your expression of free speech. But it cannot be denied it was offensive irrespective.
Free speech is a very broad term and means different things to different people. Some believe you have to exercise free speech that is balanced with ethics and morality. Others believe you can simply spout anything off the top of your head and it should be ok. But if you look at regimes that truly suppressed and punished free speech it was speech that criticized the powers in control at the time. This is not the atmosphere existing in the US or other Western countries. If someone criticizes what you say, they are not infringing on your free speech. They are exercising their free speech. If you are sued or criminally charged for libel, defamatory speech, slander, saying fire in theater, or bomb on a plane, inciting people to commit suicide or other acts of violence free speech is not being curtailed.
I agree there is real civil unrest being stoked right now. America was born out of a revolution, and the founders were careful to put as many barriers against a potential overreach by the federal government, which they deemed the biggest threat to individual liberty. Not going to rehash it endlessly, but the whole US Constitution is about limiting the power of the government. That is still a dominant thought on the minds of America's citizenry, and the reason for the 2nd Amendment, and why it is part of today's culture. The history of America might not be very long but is rich in lessons and worth a study.
What is offensive to you might not be offensive to someone else. People pay the price for speaking their minds and speaking out. The price is being judged by others and especially in the course of doing business it might be an economic loss. That is how it works in practice.
My point is that if you want to advocate for shaming someone, for example, and getting some of this community to join in, you are free to do so. But by doing so, I believe you are doing long term damage to society and the culture of free speech on this forum. Just because you drive something off from the public thread doesn't mean it just disappears. But the culture changes, and rather than being out in the open for all to be discussed and criticized, you create a culture where people are unwilling to talk openly. This is not a positive achievement, even if it brings temporary satisfaction.
Some who value individual freedom are no fans of where the modern left is pushing culture and ideas on free speech. Modern leftist ideology has captured at least the Democratic party, Mainstream Media, Big Tech, Academia and higher learning, Entertainment industry and Hollywood. Cancel culture and censorship are coming down on everyone who does not submit. Leftist organizations like Antifa and BLM and tolerated and encouraged and aided by lack of prosecution, immediate release, or fundraisers for bail.
And things are just starting
What are you other areas of activism?
