"The Ugly Side Of 'Free Speech'"

This weekend I was thinking about the sheer numbers of times that I've seen and heard people say the most insulting, mean-spirited and ignorant things. And the worst part of it isn't what the person said, but that it's allowed and accepted as part of the Constitution of The United States.

For instance, I was talking with a man that I mentioned in a previous entry that I named "Jed". His real name is George, and he's an interesting enough person to talk to from time to time. Anyway, I mentioned to him that I'm a Liberal, and he said, "So that means that you're Pro-Abortion, Gun Control and Welfare, right?"

So here's what's wrong with what he said: Liberals aren't typically "Pro-Abortion", we're "Pro-Choice". There's a difference there, you know? Just because I'm for a woman's right to chose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy (for whatever reason, it's her body) doesn't mean that I walk down the street, pointing at pregnant women and shouting, "You must exorcize that demon seed from your womb and get a Prius!!!" George also said that Planned Parenthood profits from women getting abortions, so they must, therefore, be more for it as opposed to against it. I argued that most hospitals profit from providing Rape Kits for women that have been sexually assaulted, so by his line of logic, they must be for Rape. He started to object, but I cut him off by saying that if you want to get into a semantic debate, than you must be able to accept that no matter how ridiculous the counter-argument presented is, you have to accept it is based off of the ridiculousness of the original point of contention made. I can't speak for everyone as far as Abortion is concerned, but from my experience, Liberals accept that Abortion must be an available option on the table; regardless of the religious proclivities of those that may disagree, it remains a medical procedure, and therefore must be treated as one. Trying to combine Religion and Science rarely benefits any party concerned.

Secondly, as far as being "...for Gun Control", you're damn right. Do you know how many times I've had guns pulled on me as I walked home from school as a kid? Too many. And do you know why? The kid with the gun's hick parents leave guns unguarded in their homes, and the kids can get at them. So, Junior has a beef with you, and he's too much of a pussy to knuckle up, so he goes to the gun rack in his house and grabs one he can hide in his clothes or backpack and takes it to school so he can threaten you with it, if not accidentally shoot and kill you due to his inexperience in handling a firearm of any kind. Not to mention that kids from those types of households tend to be the ones that accidentally blow their own heads off. I think that if you need a gun to hunt, you can have one for that purpose, but you don't need ten guns in your house unless you're running a firearms museum. There's no logical reason for you to be armed to the teeth in your own house like that. "The Right to bear arms" nonsense made sense when we didn't have a standing Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines; we have them now, and if they want into your house, do you honestly think your shitty collection of Civil War-era muskets is gonna stop them? Wow, me neither... moving on.

As for Welfare? Hmmm... I don't know... if people need help, should they be able to periodically get help from the Government that taxes the shit out of them? YES. Five times a week and twice on Sunday. People act as if being on Welfare is a fucking luxury cruise, don't they? Can you imagine being a woman and having to go into a store first to ask if they accept Food Stamps without feeling embarrassed for not only herself, but for your kids? Also, most people on Welfare aren't Black or Latino, they're White... so let's stop the Xenophobic nonsense right now. Think of it in terms of sheer numbers: White people out-number any other ethnic group in this country, so it can easily be deduced that we use the most in terms of Welfare programs.

However, I don't think that people should be able to abuse the system and stay on it indefinitely, either. If you're truly disabled in a manner that can be documented by a physician, you can always get Social Security for that, as there are many people that are on Social Security for that very reason. But, if you aren't applying for jobs while on Welfare in order to better your station in life, you have to provide reason as to why you should be provided with continued support. The big problem with Welfare is that there's little in the way of actual empathy involved in the process. Every person's situation is unique, and should be treated as such, but as it often works in bureaucratic concerns, everyone is lumped into a pile and then categorized. Being lost in the system is a depressing experience, and talking down to those who are less fortunate -in this case, those on Welfare- is uncalled for an inappropriate. So cut it out, already.

Well, that's it for today, folks... I'll write something funnier later on in the week.