THE OTHER SIDE OF FREE SPEECH

The reason this blog post is called "the other side of free speech" as opposed to simply "an argument for free speech" is as an admission of guilt on my part. I used to always like to think of myself as a very conscious thinker. And when the U.S. election primaries were over and things were starting to really get heated up, I quickly jumped on the side I felt was right (no pun intended). I listened, as a lot of other people did, to a candidate that not only proved himself to be a total liar but someone who would give relevance to every troll I would come across. Before I go further into this, I have provided you with the definition of a troll so we are all starting with the same understanding.

Trolls will be the first to shout "FREE SPEECH!" if you try to claim that their bullshit is inappropriate. Insulting people, calling people names just for the fun of it, is not what our forefathers had in mind with the whole concept of free speech. And the trolls' bastardized form of "free speech" is violence, pure and simple. You are deliberately attacking someone to try to hurt them. That's why I call it violence.

Now having spent a lot of time and a shameful number of hours on the other side of the fence, I see that I was wrong about so much. And the first time I was referred to as a Social Justice Warrior by one of these trolls, I was more than a little horrified. Then I thought about it and decided it wasn't such a bad thing. And I can thank this troll for opening up my eyes to the fact that I really wasn't anything like my compatriots as the time. Sure, I believe in free speech. But I don't equate that to trolling. And at the end of the day, I would much rather be a "snowflake" than a troll. At least I am doing something constructive with my life, not just sitting in some political circle-jerk talking about how badly I am going to "destroy" another SJW in my next video.