Posted on 08/30/2020 5:15:45 AM PDT by MtnClimber
I've come to realize I'm either a coward or just a lazy, ungrateful, undeserving old white male. Is free speech dead? Not for everyone, but it may be for me. The only thing we're really guaranteed about free speech under the First Amendment is that the government won't come after us for speaking our mind, within reason. No shouting fire in a theater, etc. We are not guaranteed that there won't be recriminations from others for our speech, though — job loss, loss of business, reputation, privacy, friends, family, even life in some extremes. The question is, am I willing to pay the price now demanded for fully exercising my rights? I should be, but I find I'm not.
Sadly, I have come to the realization that I am not of hardy patriot stock, for I am not willing to risk it all. I find myself constantly self-regulating my God-given rights, AKA biting my tongue, in an effort not to lose one or all the positives in life. I keep telling like-minded compatriots that people need to push back, take a stand, tell it like it is, all the while looking over my shoulder to make sure none of the Hitler youth has snuck up on me. They seem to be omnipresent. I shouldn't fear them, but I do.
I peruse my emails at work, every fifth one being corporate-wide from a self-righteous H.R. person or woke executive extolling the virtues of this or that Marxist organization or telling us old white guys how privileged we are, even though we don't know it, even though I personally follow the direction of a black guy.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I am so privileged that I am forced to pay taxes that I am sure help fund the drug habits of many who don’t work.
If you do nothing except Vote, you will still be part of the solution.
Courage is not only a virtue, it is the testing point of all virtues
CS Lewis
I believe in using your brain before opening your mouth.
The Cal Tech physicist, Richard Feynman, once quipped, “What do you care about what other people think?” This was, of course, rhetorical. I will note that Feynman played a significant role in the Challenger explosion investigation.
Ping for later
The author describes what many of us are thinking but cannot or will not express openly.
Survival instincts often tell us what to do or not to do.
We need to stay alive to do good.
We need to fight strategically and wisely - so it is often wiser to stay alive by keeping quiet where necessary, so we can go to vote, and at the same time throw them off, or do other things that will help our causes.......
I believe in not casting pearls before swine. I also believe there's no point in arguing with a fool, after a minute or two it's hard to tell who's who.
Let the swine and fools out themselves with their mouths. They'll find out on November 4th that they've lost and then, let them receive their full due. Payback is gonna be a b**ch.
You don’t need to become a lightning rod to be a patriot.
Look for opportunities to sway others when appropriate. Do it gently, help them learn to think for themselves. Sometimes simple questions can throw the spark.
And vote!
I read the author who survived the Bosnian civil war. He tells us that he, too, is a coward, a complete pussy. He instructs us, however, that it is the response to the cowardice that defines us, not the fear. He relates the stories about how the toughest OO-RAH motherhuggers are the ones he'd find hiding, trembling behind a wall, unable to return fire, whereas the 60 year old tailor would be the one to rally troops and lead the charge into the automatic weapon fire, and end up being the deadliest troop on the fire team.
He relates that there is no way to predict who will be deadly. He remembers one guy who HAD to wear fuzzy pink slippers into battle. It was his one connection to 'the old world'. This guy ended up being a certified bad ass.
In short: Don't necessarily rely on the people you'd think are super badass, and don't necessarily discount the people you'd think are useless.
“No shouting fire in a theater, etc.”
You have a duty to shout “Fire” in a crowded theater - if it is on fire.
Until one has seen the cliff where ones courage fails, they have no idea how far they can fall and into what depravity.
“we need to stay alive to do good”
No coward, prepared, but not stupid.... a Kamikaze was a one time bullet and then did nothing else.
Yes, exercise the franchise. We the People. That’s what strikes fear in the hearts of the communists and the global elites.
To quote John Wayne
“Courage is when you’re scared as hell, but you saddle up anyway.”
Ouch.
This hits home. Closer than I like to admit but I see much of me in this.
I have become the coward he speaks of.
I don’t know if you have a duty to help the property owner by sounding the verbal alarm, though on moral grounds it’s the right thing to do. Indeed, I don’t think this is a governmental issue at all: even if the theater isn’t on fire, yelling “fire” isn’t a First Amendment issue but rather a property rights issue. That is, if the theater owner is OK with people yelling “fire” at random, that’s the owner’s prerogative. The theater across the street’s owner may prohibit such activity...the free market will sort it out and the government stays home.
Concur to your John Wayne Quote:
“Courage is when you’re scared as hell, but you saddle up anyway.”
I remember and quote this whenever I have to explain to young person that fear is normal and healthy. That you just have to work through it when needed. And use that quote.
The conduct of private organizations is regulated in many ways by the government, and those regulations include provisions which can often be used to protect the free speech of conservatives.
As anti-freedom as some of the laws and regulations are they can be turned back against the organizations that try to compel their employees and even customers.
A hostile workplace environment can be created many ways, and limiting the free speech rights of a particular group can certainly create a hostile workplace environment.
Clearly requiring restaurant customers of a particular race, religion, or creed to eat in silence would be an illegal act of discrimination. The same logic applies to online service providers who attempt to silence particular groups of people.
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