I'll start by saying: Some people will cry "Free Speech" when they are told to be nice, or at least not name call and bash the opposition, but when someone tries to voice their opinions to them they turn their backs and say "I don't want to hear it." This blog post will be me ranting on the injustice that is free speech and those who cry for it, and those who don't like things that happen to them, get their hackles up, and then just start name calling. That and the coverage of the American VS Canadian political scene.
All of this stems from the deletion of a group on Ravelry that was extremely Right Wing. They even went as far as to say (on their front page): "Guest posts WILL be deleted because again, this is our place to vent." I'm all for people voicing their opinions, but please, allow for either rebuttal or external opinions so as to not look like you've got a stick up your ass. They would voice their distaste for the current American Government, but when someone, ANYONE tried to refute their claims, posts were outright deleted. When someone from an outside position would voice concern to their moderators, the mods would do very little. This would then go to the proprietor of the site. In his words "This Group has been a constant drain on the time and energy of our small staff and has therefore harmed the very site that provides for its existence." It wasn't the topics, it wasn't the theme, hell, it wasn't really even the anger or the misuse of the system, it was because the same problems kept being ignored by the mods and going to the Proprietor of the site. People were coming back on this great guy by calling him a Nazi, a suppressor, and various other harmful things. THESE are the reasons the group was being shut down, but the members couldn't get their heads out of their asses for long enough to notice it.
When Obama was inaugurated, I know of Canadian work places that set up televisions or allowed people to come in late (or not at all) so they could watch the new American president actually become president. When the Canadian Prime Minister took his seat, there was nothing. When the Governor General agreed to prorogue government, there was nothing. When Government went back into session, there was nothing. When the new budget was put forth, there was nothing. Something about that strikes me as just wrong. What does it say about Canadians and even Canada as a whole when we are more interested in the American politics than what is going on here at home. How many people (Canadian or otherwise) can name the leaders of each of the Canadian parties? How many can even name the parties?
:: after an hour break with ice cream and knitting::
I'm a whole lot calmer now. It still irks me that these people are hating on the Proprietor of the site and saying what a "horrible thing" it is that they're being shut down for "reasons that they don't understand", but I have come to the conclusion that you just can't reason with some people.
-Cheers folks. Play nice, if not, don't come back with the "injustice" of your discipline.
3 comments:
Well said! Couldn't agree more.
I agree with you completely on this. Free speech has become a touchy subject these days, especially on our own home front (SMU talk about abortion being silenced by protesters, for instance). People are crying out for the right to free speech, but only if that speech doesn't go against what they believe in. That's now how it works.
... That's supposed to say, "That's NOT how it works."
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