Go Ahead And Laugh

I have Tourette Syndrome. It's tough to live with sometimes. Know what's even tougher to live with, though? People who make fun of those of us who are afflicted with Tourette's. Such people are mean, demeaning and frequently unrepentant. Bottom line: they think they're better than people like me. And there's nothing I can do about them.

But, then again, I don't WANT to do anything about them (other than ignore them). Why? Because people who can stifle the speech of a jerk can stifle the speech of someone like me, as well. And I don't want someone taking away my First Amendment rights.

Sadly, though, it now looks like many, many Americans think the First Amendment needs to go. Or at least be seriously gutted. Why? Because such people correctly assume that free speech hurts people. Thing is, though, it doesn't hurt people as much as government censorship does.

The truth is this: I'd rather live in a country where an obnoxious standup is free to make fun of Tourette's than I would live in a country like Cuba. It's that simple.

Free societies allow people to do the sort of bad things that totalitarian societies don't. That doesn't make totalitarian societies better, though, it just makes them more suffocating. 

I don't have any exact numbers on hand, but I'd be willing to bet the crime rate is a lot lower in China than it is here in America. Does that mean China is a nicer country than the United States? Not if you don't think you should be thrown in jail for writing an email, it doesn't.

Look, free speech has always had it's limits in this country. You can't yell "fire" when there isn't a fire, for instance. When you start stifling opinion in the name of sensitivity, however, you begin goose stepping down the wrong path. Remember, tyrannical governments always claim to be tyrannical for the good of their people.

So yeah, if you want to make fun of my disorder, go right ahead. Believe it or not, I'd rather see you mock me in public than I would see you relegated to the "free speech zone" of some university. At least in a free society, I can respond to you if I feel like it (though I probably won't waste my breath). In a more oppressive society, however, well...