Re: In Support of Free Speech

Thanks Bob!

Hi NSA  / MIB / China intelligence / RT! Please enjoy this email it is not encrypted. 

The difference between freedom of speech and being politically correct is enormous.

Both Russia and America have the same issues except that their leaders experience different forms of inner pain when speaking! Putin wishes he could have freedom of speech, but he lives within an intolerant community.  Putin is less willing than Cameron to state what he feels because he is afraid of his domestic Islamic  community. Obama has the best of both worlds being politically correct and having freedom of speech. 

Whatever Obama says is politically correct! That is true power, being a shaper of political thought. Obama is thus a giant speaking openly about given his people new powers compared with Putin, who behaves like a scared rabbit striving to take away what powers remain to his people. There is a world of difference to be appreciated by seeing these leaders for what they are and what traps they create for themselves. Obama can state that America should intervene in Syria, something unthinkable years ago and certainly unthinkable for Putin now, who will use his powers as a pretender protector of Islamic authorities that he as a communist despises. Very strange! 

My current criticism of Russia and Putin is its/his steep slide towards political correctness, which now means to exclude gays from the political process.  Putin is restrained in his actions and speech by his fear of antagonising Islamic communities in Russia. Thus what is political correct in Russia is what an Islamic cleric would propose. Putin can call Kerry a liar, but is afraid of stating the obvious about Assad or other Islamic state leaders. Putin is thus a coward of sorts, but really being a pragmatist. 

In Canada, we have the dictatorial powers of Industry Canada with regard to the residential location of cellular towers without consultation or legal process. I find it intolerable that Canada and Russia have opposing stances with regards to freedoms in this instance. In Russia, the state is proactively protecting its people from health damage from radiation while in Canada the opposite is true. 

So, my conclusion has to be that neither freedom of speech nor political correctness are necessarily desirable nor sufficient. 

Freedom of speech is meaningless without access to a liberal education. 

Political correctness is powerful when it includes protection for minorities such as gays.

Both terms are misused and subject to abuse by both the powerful and the weak. It's no good telling someone they are free if they are denied an education that they can afford and that will give them access to meaningful employment. It's no good telling someone they are free if the great education they receive freely is only usable in a limited context and they cannot express discontent. 

Context, context, context! It's all about that word 'given'. Freedom of speech is desirable given that .... etc. etc.  Political correctness is desirable given that ..... etc. etc.

We know what we mean by freedom because we have experienced it within the context of our national and international identity.  Because of my impressionable life in Quebec, I appreciate how fragile our freedoms are. Almost daily, we were being bombed by the FLQ, we were being exploited by the residual of the Duplessis government, we were being bullied by American companies. 

Nevertheless, I formed a strong liking for my Quebec revolutionary friends that shapes my feelings as regards what English Canada does and the way English Canadians regard French Canadians. I only have to talk to certain neighbours to experience the return of sentiments and feel the harshness of ignorance and intolerance.  In many ways, life in America is much easier than in Canada because of battles fought through the civil rights movement, and yet I know how absolutely intolerant Americans are of their French Canadian neighbours and patois residents in New Orleans, which of course was discriminated against by the Bush administration when it came to organising and implementing active hurricane recovery help.  New York certainly did not experience the hidden wrath of Americans to those in New Orleans considered by many to be  intolerably liberal, even more than the standard American Liberal in New York?  In other words, Texas may tend to help New York and feel better about it than when helping New Orleans. That's only an impression?

I am rambling, but that's an internal reflection of what I have been through and seen!

Best wishes, Arthur

More... http://Woohs.blogspot.com   

Bob wrote:

 

I believe the world was a better place before it employed "politically correct"