Freedom II

 

Proud To Be An American

And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land! God bless the U.S.A

And I’m proud too, but I might be the object of your freedom.

Freedom of speech describes an act, speaking. But any action requires not only a subject but also an object, in the case of speaking, a listener.  That listener is also free NOT to listen to your speech.  So you can speak all you want, but I am also free not to listen to your speech.

You can talk to yourself if you want.  People who are self sufficient, i.e. raise their own food, are the object of their own action . It requires work to raise food. You are free to raise food that you alone will consume.  Similarity you can always talk to yourself, but I also have the freedom not to listen.

You only have freedom to speak in private settings, if those private settings grant you that freedom.  Those private entities can also impose restrictions on you.  I can ask you not to speak in my house.  Similarly any private entity, such as a corporation, can ask you not to speak using their property. Those private entities, e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc., are actually intermediaries who are selling your information, whether you are a poster or a reader, to advertisers.  If they are imposing restrictions on your speech, it probably is because they do not want you to drive away listeners whose information they wish to sell to advertisers.

This issue exists for any freedom.  Freedom to worship requires that there be an object of that worship.  Whether that object is Yahweh, Jehovah, Jesus, Allah or Buddha, does not mean that your Freedom to Worship Jesus means that others are not also Free to Worship another object, such as Allah.

Freedom of the press means that you can print material It does not mean that I have to read your material, or that Tech companies have to print your material, any more than a newspaper has to print your material.

Before you start claiming a freedom, of which you are the subject, think about who is the object of your action. It isn’t a freedom unless you have an object.  It takes two to tango.