Speak your mind, but

They used to be called bumper stickers, but often they are up in the back window now. This one said "Speak your mind... but ride a fast horse."

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I've got some mind speaking to do, and I don't own a fast horse. Not even a fast car. There is a fast bike though, as long as I'm going downhill. I'll be here for your comments.

I see this as a big fuck you to civilized discussion. They want to be able to say what they want to say, and then leave, mostly to escape any further discussion that might taint their mind with reality, or probably most important, escape retribution. Whatever company they have left behind is probably pretty upset.

The person owning the bumper sticker is probably saying, bunch of snowflakes. Free speech and all.

Except we already know that free speech isn't entirely free. The classic example is that we are not allowed to shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theatre unless there actually is a fire. There are further restrictions on freedom of expression, such as defamatory communication, perjury, hate speech, or obscene material.

Then we get into words or comments that were once common, and are now essentially excised from the language. One prominent example begins with 'n' in reference to people who do not have white skin. As a white man, I know of no way of using that word without offending any company I might choose to keep. It seems that some groups can use it between themselves, but I don't know if they are insulting one another, or it's a subtle put down, or recognition of some status, or what.

Then there are comments that were not to be made in polite company, or mixed company, mostly involving swear words. After all, you never knew what someone would be offended by, and back in the day it was assumed that women would be offended. That used to include political stuff. One of the rules I was taught was that one didn't discuss politics or religion unless you knew all the people involved had similar opinions.

Now it isn't just discussing your political opinions. It's flaunting them, getting right up in other people's faces with them, especially when you know it's going to offend them. It doesn't seem to matter that the opinion is factually incorrect, as long as it pushes some buttons.

But then the bumper sticker guy doesn't want to stick around for the rebuttal. I call that cowardly. Once should have the courage of your convictions. Here in Alberta, I don't mind someone saying that it was important to vote for Kenney because he was going to do x, y, and z to get the oil and gas business back to work. Is 'cutting red tape' the answer? I dunno, what tape do you propose to cut? Some of it we can probably do without, other tape there's a reason to put companies through the hoops. We can talk about that.

But to say you're voting for him because Notley is responsible for the downturn in the economy and she's therefore a traitor, is nonsensical. Anyone holding that opinion is coming from a fact-free zone and might well have a custom fitted tinfoil helmet nearby. Problem is that such an opinion is often delivered in all caps, complete with miss-spellings and grammatical errors. In person it would be really easy to feel threatened by a person offering such an opinion because they're usually yelling.

No, that doesn't make the recipient snowflakes. It makes them prudent, as it usually appears the shouter is on the verge of popping a gasket. Our democracy is the worse for it when argument is decided by who has the loudest bullhorn or the most intimidating protesters.

There's a couple related sayings.
Never argue with a fool, the audience might lose track of who's who.
And, never argue with a fool, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
And, never wrestle with a pig, you both get muddy and the pig likes it.

You get the idea.

I like the idea of robust discussion. I don't mind that some people are passionate about their opinions. But is it too much to ask to have some facts involved, or be consistent?

One small example. You think abortion is wrong. Fine, I say, don't get one. Let people with the appropriate expertise make the rules. But there's other methods of preventing abortions than outlawing them for everybody. Why aren't you in favour of sex education, family planning, teaching kids about consent, teaching the various options around birth control (abstinence doesn't count) and making it easy for people to get the method appropriate for them?

Do you remember printed newspapers, with columnists, editorials, and letters to the editor? No, or you've forgotten? Newspapers, they were, oh heck, google it for yourself. At one point I wanted to be a columnist. Many of them were well written arguments in favour or against a position. Emphasis on well written. There was an editor looking over their shoulder. As you may have noticed, I love writing.

Now everybody has a newspaper that wants one (they're called blogs on the internet) and they're their own writer, editor, and publisher. Some are high quality, well polished examples of writing (breathes on fingernails, buffs them on shirt, and tries to look modest). Others are, well, less so. Much less so, to the point they are barely speaking English. What's alarming is that they find an audience.

I'm not saying they should be suppressed. Far from it, unless they cross the above mentioned limitations on free speech. One of the big answers to hateful speech is more speech. Part of the answer is not getting sucked into being a supporter of hateful or fact-free speech and pushing back where possible.

Tell yourself this rule, over and over again as required. "The world is more complicated than a tweet or a headline." It is. Really. Anyone who says otherwise has only the most superficial grasp on the issue under discussion. Anyone who tries to advance a position via tweet is probably out to push your buttons, not engage you factually. Don't go along. Push back with facts. Check with Snopes and call bullshit.  The alternative is to end up with a Canadian version of Trump as Prime Minister. The prospect horrifies me.

Be the plant in the photo below. Send your roots of truth deep into what appears to be unyielding rock. Maybe not this week or next, but that rock will crack and split open where those roots are.

Rock of the Day

Driftwood of the Day