Freedom Of Speech: How Free Are the People Who Live in the Land of the Free?

Freedom Of Speech - noun The right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint. 

Voltaire once said, "I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." This quote always struck me as an oddity. I mean we have freedom of speech in America right? But then why is it that we spend so much of our time trying to silence others? Whether it be the teaming masses that rally behind a cause and try to make their voices heard or perhaps the occasional controversial politician that says something people don't like. In a land that constantly boasts and brags about its citizen's right to free speech we are a culture of people whose core essential value is silencing others.

Rush Limbaugh and some of his "words of wisdom"

Yes it may be true that we are humans and silencing people is what we tend to do when we don't like another persons opinion, but how many people would be like Voltaire and defend, to the death, a person's (whom may not share the same values as your own) right to say what they want. It seems as though in the media and in politics everyone wants someone to, for lack of better phrasing, shut the (insert expletive of choice here) up! Now as a "free people" we built ourselves off of the idea that people may have different values and that we should respect those whom may have a different view on certain subjects, this is how progress is made people! Now its understandable that we may not want to subject ourselves to opinions of those whom we vehemently disagree with and that is a personal choice but to try to silence people for getting their words and using them is wrong.

Take Rush Limbaugh a prominent conservative speaker, yes it may be true that whenever a sentence leaves his lips I find myself cringing in the corner, however that doesn't give me the right to silence him. Yes, I have the full ability to walk away from his relentless moronic babble, and thats how you can easily silence whomever you want whenever you want. In no way shape or form does anyone who is not a government official whom has extremely sound reasoning for silencing someone have the right or power to silence anybody. Take a tip from this e-card: if you don't like what someone is doing/saying/posting you have the full control of yourself to stop looking or listening and to remove yourself from the situation. This is just a little food for thought in your daily life.