|
|
|
|
|
|
by Nnuie21
3049 days ago
|
|
|
Most of the thin-skinnedness I observe is from so-called free speech absolutists, who want to say offensive things in public without fear of being shamed. But what they call shaming is actually their opponents exercising their own right to free speech. The freedom of speech that allows you to say something offensive is the same freedom that lets me criticize your offensive comments. You say stop listening if your feelings are being hurt. That's one option. I can also call you out for being insensitive to my feelings. If you can't handle that criticism, then stop airing your views in a public forum, for your own good. Freedom = responsibility. You own your words. |
|
|
But at the same time, it feels there's a tendency for these things to go between criticism and into harassment, with the latter being outright encouraged by certain groups on all sides of the political spectrum.
For instance, quite a few people have seen themselves doxxed for things said on social media sites, with people going as far as to contact their employers to get them fired or attempting to get their families to disown them by tracking them down and yelling at them about their associates words. That can be for anything from attacking others online to merely saying something uncomfortable (like a joke someone disliked at a conference) to hobbies or interests that simply aren't safe for work.
Is that a fair response? Should freedom of speech have 'expose someone and attempt to destroy their career' as an allowed reaction to a comment online?
How about (in some extreme cases) trying to have them blacklisted from an industry? I've seen that before, and it's just as chilling to see it happen with someone for being politically incorrect as it was for someone being a 'communist sympathiser' back in the Cold War.
Criticism is fine, but there has to be some line between criticism and calling out and basically exiling someone from society and destroying their future chances of making a living.