I like to complain, a lot. So much, in fact, that if I got a euro for every time I ranted about something, I'd have enough money to go on a cruise, at least twice a year. Salty is my middle name, so if your food is ever lacking that sodium chloride...
These three words are always tossed around by bigots as the 'cherry on top' of their verbal diarrhoea. It's their way of smugly saying, "You have to listen to my unfiltered, worthless opinion, and there's not a thing you can do about it. Go ahead and call the cops on me, there's nothing they can do because it's my constitutional right!"
Let's stop right there.
The definition of freedom of speech is: "the right to speak without censorship or restraint by the government." (from dictionary.com) The key word here is GOVERNMENT, meaning that it's not like Obama (or Renzi, in Italy's case) can call a SWAT team and make you "mysteriously disappear" simply because you think that "everyone should be entitled to say the n-word" (which btw you aren't. African-Americans have reclaimed that word. Unless you're black, you cannot use it. It's a matter of respect. And no "cracker" is not a racial slur. Educate yourself).
What it does mean, however, is that:
a) I can drag you through hell and back, pulling out receipts from my trusty backpack.
b) I can contact your employer and get you fired for saying racist, problematic BS, or pretty much anything that's problematic. (It's been happening a lot lately. Some white person says something hella racist on social media, my POC brothers and sisters jump right on it, and in less than a week the person is unemployed. Because although the GOVERNMENT can't stop you from saying BS, nothing can stop an employer from firing you for putting their company in a bad light. :))
c) You can get banned from social media/websites.
Does anyone remember when Leslie Jones was harassed on Twitter by thousands of racist, misogynistic, sexist morons after the new Ghostbusters movie came out? Well, one of these people was Milo Yiannopolous, a Z-listed celebrity I didn't even know existed until then.
He got permanently suspended from the website (just take a look at a few of his tweets).
This is an excerpt of what Twitter had to say about it:
"People should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs on Twitter. But no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online, and our rules prohibit inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others. Over the past 48 hours in particular, we've seen an uptick in the number of accounts violating these policies and have taken enforcement actions against these accounts, ranging from warnings that also require the deletion of Tweets violating our policies to permanent suspension."
e)Even if what you're saying is not "verbal harassment", but simply ignorant BS stemming from years of captivity in a run-down trailer home and conservative brainwashing, people still have the right to stop interacting with you.
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There's probably a lot more, but these are the things that I can say from the top of my head.
I wanted to add a personal (recent) example, but I feel like it's better suited to another rant, namely, regarding biracial children.
Anyway,
Freedom of speech =/= freedom of consequence.
Don't think that you can say insensitive BS and get away with it.
Also, isn't it funny how trolls always hide behind fake accounts?
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(Sorry for being MIA. Nowadays, I spend most of my time on this site lurking.)
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Is there something that you're itching to complain about, but have the good sense not to do so on a public forum? I can do it for you! Feel free to PM me with the topic you want me to rant about, and I won't think twice before adding it here. I'll be waiting!
