A Lazy Bastard and Free Speech

It has been a long time since I posted anything on this site. There are many reasons for this, but, if I am honest, the main one is that I do not feel that I have had as much to say as I thought I would.  This is despite the world having a new US President to deal with, wars all over the place and so much of general interest in the world. I am also a lazy bastard.  I cannot be bothered to do much if it requires a major effort of intelligence.  I read a lot and I read intellectual books but I don't get to grips with them as I used to.  Now, after I have read a few pages I frequently have no idea what the section is about; well I do to some extent although I could not recapture the depth of the argument in the majority of instances.

In short I am disappointed with myself.  I am not a natural writer I suppose.  I have no madly driven urge to tell people what I think about this and that.  I am no politician full of his or her own importance and convinced that what they think and do is for the best.  Nevertheless I am blessed with the freedom to do and say what I think because I live in a country that has treasured the right to free speech for a long time.  Not that there is any ultimate right of free speech.  Were I to want to encourage terrorism I might find that I had a lot less freedom than I do at present.

Voltaire's defence of free speech does not apply in Britain and would appear to be impossible in any country in the world.  Racism and sexism are taboo in 'western' nations (which include Australia and New Zealand among other non-geographically western countries) and speaking against the government is not permitted in the majority of nations outside the western bloc.  Indeed governments outside the essentially liberal western countries do not appear to run the country for the benefit of the majority.  We have former communist kleptocracies, the awful situation in so many African nations, Chinese Communism and the absurd yet terrifying North Korean family dictatorship of the Kim mafia.

So free speech in the sense that one can say anything about anyone or anything does not exist, not even in Scandinavia which is noted for exceptional freedom and liberalism. There is no such thing because there are strictures placed on what is allowable.  These strictures are important because they can and do guide behaviours and hopefully will come to change attitudes.  Britain is less racist and less homophobic than it used to be.  It still has these traits, but they are less prevalent than 20 or 30 years ago.  I did hear a remark about homosexuality the other day that I found amusing .  "It used to be called the love that dare not speak its name.....now it won't bloody shut up!"

However, this humorous statement does illustrate the point rather well about the acceptance of homosexuality on a wider scale that it used to be.  Some people still hate and fear homosexuality, but they are limited in their opportunities to voice or act on their feelings.  I suppose that free speech is a goal to aim for without ever expecting or wanting to actually get there.  The reason for this is that freedoms conflict all the time.  A person's freedom to be homosexual was limited by the law and abuse and punishment were commonplace, now the homophobe has to bite his or her tongue to avoid the weight of legal sanction.

There is an exception to the limits on free speech, however. The variety of internet communications.  One can be utterly vile and anonymous about whomsoever one pleases if you have the understanding of Information Technology (IT).  Is this of value?  I don't know, but, although in the west IT is used to vent ugly spleens, in other parts of the world the anonymity is the only way of getting political criticism out into the public domain safely. So free speech is possible if you have the understanding of technology to preserve your anonymity. Maybe this essay has galvanized this lazy bastard.