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| Witchvox Chapter: Wren's Nest News | Chapter Page Views: 54,888,330 |
 Blog-Mob Mentality Punishes Freedom Of Speech Author: Paul K. McMasters Source: First Amendment Center Title: BLOG-MOB MENTALITY PUNISHES FREEDOM OF SPEECH There was a time before America when the mob spoke for the village. Anyone who thought differently was quickly driven out – or worse. America and the First Amendment were supposed to be a rebuke to that sort of churlishness. Nevertheless, civil discourse today is in short supply, regularly savaged by talk radio and cable punditry. On the Internet, flame wars have given way to the blog-mob mentality, where a small but vocal number of vigilantes, armed with virtual pitchforks, rakes and cudgels, prowl the ether world in search of offense and offenders. Without much discrimination, they march on both rant and reason and flay both the unworthy and the brave. The rather clear message for anyone who attracts the attention of the blog-mob: Never, ever get into a shouting match with someone who buys bytes by the giga. | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 11 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Freedom And Responsibility | Mar 2nd. at 1:04:19 am EST |
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Wild Huntsman (Toronto, Ontario) - Email Me The problem here is not the free exercise of rights, but the irresponsible abuse of freedoms. The great flaws in our respective constitutions is everyone gets explicit rights, but no one has explicit, comcommittant responsibilities. Disagreement on an idea -- real disagreement -- comes from a place of respect for other's views. That isn't what's happening here. There is no respect for anyone else, simply verbal abuse until they are actually harmed. If freedom of speech was truly respected, then these men wouldn't be fighting for their right to make a living. Now at least one isn't working and the other t wo are likely to find themselves unemployed in short order. Because they dared to exercise the very freedoms they are now being denied for the very reason those freedoms exist in the first place. That is not by any ingenuous argument freedom of speech, it's exactly the opposite -- censorship and censure. Just because it isn't an official government representative doing the censoring doesn't make it any less so. These bloggers aren't disputing facts or interpretations, they are attacking and suppressing things they don't want to hear. Did it ever occur to anyone that the professor's opinion is not unique? Maybe not on prime time TV, but the last 60 years of American foreign policy has not made as many friends around the world as some imagine. Many people in foreign lands, particularly the third world, watching their resources go off to profit Americans, taken by Western corporations that leave sickness and death (remember Ken Saro-Wiwa & al?) and depleted or unliveable conditions don't quite see America as a beacon of hope. Dozens of corrupt dictatorships repress human rights with the blessing and support of successive U.S. governments.... those people aren't in love with you -- they cheered when the planes hit the towers, as if someone were striking back on their behalf. You just didn't hear about it, because CNN was so busy shoving mikes into stunned people's mouths so they could all gasp out 'but why do they hate us...?'. They actually don't hate you, they hate the arrogance of American foreign policy and the appalling ignorance of the average (non) voter and the self-righteous hypocrisy of those who are as convinced of U.S. greatness as these bloggers are of their rightness. I engage in wonderful discussions with people with distinctly different points of view. I learn new facts, sometimes my views change, sometimes others, always, I learn more. When it matters we find common ground to produce better results, a synthesis of views. That is the ideal of freedom of speech, to inform yourself and to explore ideas, unfamiliar or unpopular. Not to shout someone down because you don't like what they're saying. Disagree with my interpretation by all means, marshall the facts (all the facts) and tell my why you see it your way, please. Teach me why I'm wrong! Show me my errors. But you have no right to censure me just because you don't like what I said. |
| Ya Like The Mob Mentality Of This Web Site | Mar 1st. at 9:19:59 am EST |
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Watcher in The Wind (Summerville, South Carolina) - Email Me If you support bush openly you get hit with all kinds of email claiming that you are misguided ignorent or worse. Yup mob mentality alright. Just a friendly reminder that the mob mentallity goes both ways people |
| My Opinion | Feb 28th. at 6:38:15 pm EST |
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Rhianon Nightfire (Ashland, New York) - Email Me Quite frankly, I don't have a problem with "blogers" and the such, as long as they are not trying to directly harm me. My problem is when, because someone doesn't agree with what I may SAY, my OPINION, they have to not only attack me verbally (which I can handle) but they turn around and do everything they can to hurt me "physically"--which if I'm reading the article correctly, is what the author was saying. We all have freedom of speech, the right to have an opinion and to state it, no matter how abhorant it might be to the population at large. What shouldn't be someone's right is to hate what a person says, so go out and get them fired from their job, attack their name and reputation (can be done easily by filing false charges against someone in court) , etc. "Growing a thicker skin" isn't going to help when a nasty blogger and his mob of buddies pressure an employer to fire an employee just because said employee has an unpopular opinion about something. Being less sensitive isn't going to help when a person's life or livelyhood are at stake. That is when bloggers and others cross the line, and that's when they need to be stopped. JMO |
| The Right To Dissent | Feb 28th. at 4:38:14 pm EST |
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Istari (Hazel Park, Michigan) - Email Me Freedom of speech equals freedom to dissent. Without dissent, there is no true freedom! Simply because someone voices an opinion contrary to yours, whether polite or rude, does not mean that they are "forcing" it on you so therefore you must shut them up, since you do not like what they have to say. I may not like some things people say, but I stand up for their right to say them, whether it is Bill Maher or Jerry Falwell or anybody in between. As long as I am not silenced if I disagree, I have no problem! I've been called names for standing up for what I believe. So? I can dish it out and I can take it. You want roadkill gummi's? I don't care, but allow some of us to say, "Eew, gross!" Even identical twins do not always agree. It is a pity that in the "land of the free" some loose their jobs or have their reputations trashed for the mere crime of voicing their views! Has anyone not learned anything from our highly esteemed Founding Fathers or appreciate this wonderful country in which we live? So, you don't agree with someone. So? Why be petty and try to silence them, call them names and try to destroy them? Discuss, argue, disagree or simply ignore them if you wish, but please do not silence them until they disappear! If you try to silence everyone who disagrees with you or says things you do not like, then make laws and regulations to shut them up, eventually, those same laws will be used to silence you. Remember that. |
| Freedom Of Speech | Feb 28th. at 2:14:50 pm EST |
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Finn (San Marcos, Texas) - Email Me The saying goes, "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." The same is true of free speech. Our Constitution protects your right to speak your mind. It does not protect you from the slings and arrows of your peers. You have no right to polite, civil discourse. The people that founded our nation took even greater risks. They faced charges of sedition. They faced the death penalty for speaking their mind. That did not dissuade them. That is how you define convinctions. So there are bullies on the internet, so what? They make fun of the things you say? They make personal attacks? They say your ideas are foolish? It is their right to do so. It is the same right you excercised when you spoke up in the first place. Show a little backbone. Thicken up your skin. That is how our democracy works. That is how it has always worked. There are always risks when one takes a stand. Free speech has to extend to everyone. That means you have to protect the right of the most obnoxious individual, minority, and yes... even the majority. For free speech to mean anything at all, you have to go to bat for Neo-Nazis and Christian Evangelicals with the same zeal as you would your fellow Pagans. You may disagree with everything they say, but you should be ready to fight tooth and nail for their right to say it. If you aren't willing to do that, you are part of the problem. |
| Hear Hear!! | Feb 28th. at 12:35:02 pm EST |
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Mama Luna (Kennewick, Washington) - Email Me Well Said! |
| A Two Edged Sword. | Feb 28th. at 12:30:51 pm EST |
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me At the moment, the Internet is a wild place that has few rules and not much control, mirroring something that has never truly left us, and that statement that mob rule was before America is not very true. The mob has always ruled here, only it went under the name of vigilante justice-- and it didn't distinguish between guilty or innocent, hanging or shooting both in a vengeful circus like atmosphere. If there is to be justice, then we must find this mentality abhorrent within ourselves, and for true freedom, must stand up to protest as well as protect those with whom we disagree. If this chain is to be broken we must be the ones willing to do so and rebuke others who will not abstain from such behavior. If blogs can work one way, then they can work in another to help fight back, against the very mobs that chose to rule us. |
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