The Town Square

In a small town lived a man who went by the name of Old Ned. He was a bit of a curmudgeon who liked engaging with people with his not so politically correct stickers plastered on his old truck. These stickers ran the gamut from provocative to humorous, to bordering on being offensive. Old Ned would park his truck around the town square and attract people passing by who would stop and gawk and read the hundreds of stickers plastered from roof to tailgate. Many would laugh, others would be horrified and walk on, and occasionally someone would stop a passing policeman to complain about the offensive words on the stickers, only to be told by the officer, “It’s called free speech.” When people noticed Old Ned sitting on the park bench across from the truck, they asked him if it was his. He would reply, “Yep, my stickers are my way of expressing my views, like ‘em or not.” With a wry twinkle in his eye he would continue, “If people don’t like it, they can look the other way. I’m not here to please anyone but to help people think.” I love characters like Old Ned. They challenge the reader to stop, notice, and absorb the ideas and comments. In the sound bite world of today even if it’s a bumper sticker idea, it can have a huge impact on the reader. Much like the “X” (Twitter) of today, bumper stickers can plant seeds that can be held in fertile soil for years. I remember when I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s the bumper stickers of my youth had sayings like “Suck Eggs”, or “Don’t let THEM immanentize the Eschaton”, or “Nuke a gay whale for Jesus.” They provoked but also made me think of what they meant. I still smile and know that someone was offended by these sayings. This is what free speech does. It protects the minority opinion from the majority’s way of thinking. Our first amendment in our Bill of Rights gives the individual the unalienable right to think, say, write, and publish unpopular ideas. We must be consistent in our belief in free speech. We must recognize that there will be challenges that will often conflict with our morals and our decency. A prime example is what is happening on college campuses. The pro-Palestinian protestors have every right to protest and petition on the public square. If they are peaceful and don’t physically harm others, they are in their right to be nuisance. Yet, when they block other students, especially Jewish students, from fulfilling their right to attend classes or walk freely on a campus, they are violating rights of other individuals and should be dealt with swiftly. Conversely, Jewish students have every right to do counter demonstrations and peacefully get their message across without being accosted. Americans are fortunate that we have this codified in our law but more importantly in our DNA. We were a nation born of the idea that you will not be considered treasonous for simply going against the grain. If we wish to oppose a heinous idea or message, we must do the hard work of coming up with a superior message that persuades our fellow citizens to consider it as an elevated alternative. We are better people and an exceptional nation when we tolerate distasteful speech to occur, if it does not incite physical harm or provoke violence. We do not want our government to be the arbiter of speech, individuals should decide for themselves what they listen to or read. The transparency of bad ideas and unpopular speech allows for moral speech to advance and expand the footing that free speech is laid upon. We must have the fortitude to speak out against bad ideas and bad speech, but we should not stop those who want to wallow in the mud with pigs. After all, bacon comes from these creatures and our reward is butchering bad ideas with better ones to earn our tasty reward. The town square used to be the place where people could get up on a box and speak their minds. Today, social media is the town square and often the messages posted are hateful, harmful to feelings, and horrendous in tenor. In places like the UK one can be arrested, for speaking one’s mind, which is determined by governmental hate speech police. What a hellish scenario. Once our thoughts or speech is self-censored, we lose our freedom of expression. I am grateful that in the United States of America all speech must be part of the dialog. I recommend we give those with terrible ideas, and even worse messages, enough rope to hang themselves out to dry. The next time an Old Ned appears in your town square stop to thank him, for free speech is precious and must be protected even if you disagree with the message. https://kimmonson.com/featured_articles/the-town-square/