Privilege or right?
I was wondering, seeing the reaction of some people who went bazookas the day I posted that sweeping statement
Freedom of speech is a privilege that is often misunderstood by many as a right.
I say it here: it was MY statement, and it was SWEEPING and I don't mind taking the flack for ruffling a few feathers here and there. But since I'm at it, I'll also do this, you know, take some lines off the Oxford Dictionary.
right >> noun
2 moral / legal claim ~ (to sth / to do sth) a moral or legal claim to have or get sth or to behave in a particular way:
Everyone has a right to a fair trial. * You have no right to stop me from going in there. * What gives you the right to do that? * She had every right to be angry. * You're quite within your rights to ask for your money back. * By rights (= if justice were done) half the money should be mine. * There is no right of appeal against the decision. * Education is provided by the state as of right (= everyone has a right to it). * The property belongs to her by right. * They had fought hard for equal rights. * animal rights campaigners
Now compare that against the meaning of the word 'privilege'
privilege >> noun
1 a special right or advantage that a particular person or group of people has:
Education should be a universal right and not a privilege. * You can enjoy all the benefits and privileges of club membership. * Try not to abuse the privilege of being allowed more freedom.
4 (technical) a special right to do or say things without being punished:
parliamentary privilege (= the special right of members of parliament to say particular things without risking legal action) * breach of privilege (= the breaking of rules about what a member of parliament can say and do)
Now I say this, go take your pick as to you how you want to decide on the status of that overused, overbanged 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH'. Right or privilege?
I say the latter gives it more value, hence my sweeping statement. But of course, you have the right to choose.
September 14th, 2005 at 9:20 am
It’s a privilege that differs from community to community. More so in ours.
September 14th, 2005 at 10:08 am
True true, many has misused the right thingies..
Do they have the right to bash on the thing that you have posted?
Do we have the right to say “shut the fark up, its my blog! i can do whatever the hell i want to with it!” to them??
O_O…. Do i have the right to question the statement that you have made?
Am i making sense here? I don’t know… hahahhaa
Just babbling here.. sorry
September 14th, 2005 at 10:19 am
It’s a privilege and it has to be a privilege especially in countries like ours where the media that promotes freedom of speech is growing explosively.
I mean, freedom of speech doesn’t really work when you have a lot monumental idiots running around with nothing better to say but every damn thing that appears in their heads.
We can’t fight this with “My blog is my right to say anything” anymore. Not when you drag other people down with you.
September 14th, 2005 at 10:37 am
There’s a difference between freedom of opinion and freedom of speech, as in the latter you are not alone.
For example, the former could mean you love minishorts, but you keep it to yourself. The latter could mean you actually blurted it out in the comments section, then unfortunately you will have bear the full responsibility of having written it for a public audience, be it moral or legal.
September 14th, 2005 at 11:19 am
Freedom must be earned.
September 14th, 2005 at 11:51 am
Totoro: Hahaha…if I ever need a lawyer. I know who I’d be calling.
September 14th, 2005 at 12:07 pm
It’s more of a privilege now simply because everyone has to beware of repercussions, unless of course they have a privilege to be able to shoot of their mouth and not give a flying rat’s ass about anything happening.
September 14th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
Hmmm….privilege is given? right is earned?
September 14th, 2005 at 1:00 pm
I humbly disagree with freedom of speech being a ‘privilege’. If it is a privilege, then it follows that it is not inherently yours. And therefore, it can be *taken away*, and without fault too.
We’ll all have to think about that.
September 14th, 2005 at 1:35 pm
Another hmm…
I thought Freedom of Speech started off in the States whereby there, it is a right but with reasonable limitations.
Maybe in countries like ours, it is only a privilege because they can take it away from you should they not like what you said?
September 14th, 2005 at 1:43 pm
kudos to totoro and xprye.
People needs to be free to express their opinion however and whenever they want as long as they realized the consequences of slander and libel. There is a check and balance system to that: its called the Judiciary system that is OPEN and TRANSPARENT.
The bullshit part about our (and all other lesser developed/conscious nations) is that our Judiciary system is UNJUSTIFIED. We put people into jail for unwarranted offences that cries HUMAN RIGHTS abuse in western world but is known only as INTERNAL SECURITY ACT in ours.
And because of these stupid draconian shit laws, people like you think that WHOA, Freedom of Speech is a Privilege or else I will get into trouble. But no one questions whether it is warranted for he/she to get into trouble in the first place.
Everyone can talk shit about everyone. I don’t see what’s wrong with that. Fuck the whole concept of we are nice lil’ asian people with our polite and courteous lil asian values.
The moment you curtail an individual’s freedom of speech is the moment you curtail his/her intellectual expression. Everyone would just shut up and not think and live up to the consequences of their words.
I truly believe that the primary reason the West is “developed” is due to the expansive freedom of expression that their people enjoy. The more you learn to open your mouth- it doesnt matter if you are bullshitting because if you are, people are gonna make fun of you- and to avoid that, you are gonna learn to think to counter their attempt to embarrass you. It all keeps brain thinking constantly.
Asians? All we know is to shut up and not provoke people. If we do not learn how to live up to the consequences of our actions, how are we to progress?
We will do so by following orders and following whatever everyone else does. Hey, it worked for Japan, rite? Why shouldn’t it work for us?
Mind you, even the Japanese have their Harajuku Freeter kids who are pushing their boundaries of freedom. It is just the natural phase of progress. You progress if you are given the Freedom to do so.
Malaysian kids? We will just have to stick to our Oxford dictionaries.
I love your blog minishorts, but I can’t bring myself to eat your version of freedom fries =)
September 14th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
i think xpyre has got a point.
anyway, just makes me wonder. if minishorts ever gets her privileges to air her opinion revoked, will she have the right to protest?
September 14th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
kit (and the rest of you guys hoh): mind you, i was talking about idiots who continuously promoed their blog posts on friendster, and a*holes who, to quote you, ‘express their opinion however and whenever they want without realizing the consequences of slander and libel’. nothing to do with the ISA whatsoever, which, if you didn’t realize already, wasn’t in my mind when i was talking about this privilege called freedom of speech.
but since you’re into the law and isa and etc, ok lor i’ll tell you my take on the ISA:
i think hoh… the ISA as necessary as much as a fruit basket is necessary as a gift when i’m ill at the hospital. where i’m at now hoh, i think hoh, when i get that fruit basket, i guess the person who gave me the fruit basket loves me and cares for me lor… feeling the fruit basket is a necessary ornament beside my hospital table, however, doesn’t mean that i enjoy all the fruits that come packaged in it, nor does it mean that every piece of fruit in the basket is good for my health lor. also hoh, it doesn’t mean i love the person who gave me the basket, you geddit or not? but sometimes hoh, i also like the orange and the apples in it lor… (because i like to eat fruit mah, i’m a good good girl like that)
like that only. simple or not?
thats my take ON THAT freedom… which i believe you have blown out of proportion to extend to urm… that that that (forgive the fluff in my brain please)what are you talking about again?!
September 14th, 2005 at 2:27 pm
that that that… ISA is not a fruit basket. It’s more like Agent Orange =)
September 14th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
I CHOOSE IT TO BE A FRUIT BASKET. CANNOT AH. BUT i don’t like the pineapples and the bananas in it… actually if i’m sick i prefer a bouquet of flowers, thank you.
September 14th, 2005 at 2:38 pm
aww… *hugs*
just ignore the Friendster bulletin board (it’s also filled with forwarded emails, hoaxes, chain letters, questionnaires and all manner of disgusting spam).
i used to get automatic notifications in my personal email everytime someone updates their Friendster blog.
September 14th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
Minishorts - with the dictionary definitions which you supplied, I think it is reasonable that people went the road of talking about the legal side of it.
After all, ‘Freedom of Speach’ is a LEGAL thing in most counrties (and morally an imperative in others), and some countries you have NO RIGHT to ‘freedom of speach’, in which case it does becomea privaledge of the ruling class to let other’s present their views.
In the blog sphere, laws are still relavent - so do the idiots have a right to blabber on and on … yes! If it is a public forum, then they have the same rights as they normally do.
If you were to close off your blog to only those you wish to use it (ie password protect it etc), then you can possibly mediate on topics and exclude the idiots.
Obviously everyone has a ‘Right’ to express their opinion, provided it doesn’t break laws. (ie, no racism allowed, no slander etc).
So, I tihnk on both a moral and legal ground, ‘Freedom of speach’ is actually a right.
Yes, some misuse it, and talk a lot of non-sense. At the end of the day, unless you make your blog a private blog, then everyone (idiots and anyone else) still has the ‘right’ to come here and express themselves (as annoying as the idiots might be!)
The best you can do with idiots, is ask them to leave. If they persist on coming back and harassing you or others … then you can get them with the harassment laws that some countries have! (So,you can get rid of them). You have to prove however, that the idiots are being harassing.
(And you have no way of telling if they come back under other pseudonyms unless you’ve traced their IP address or something).
So, it is a right, but only while they break no law!
September 14th, 2005 at 3:03 pm
dabido: it’s a fruit basket. with weird fruits.
September 14th, 2005 at 4:12 pm
How come I dun see anyone promoting their blog in my friendster wan ha?
September 14th, 2005 at 5:06 pm
lol Minishorts!
As long as your readers are not ‘Fruit Baskets’ with ‘Weird Fruits’
In Aussie, a Rambutan would be considered Weird … but in Malaysia, it is normal! (And so yummy! Aku suka Rambutan!)
What would be a weird fruit in Malaysia? So long, I forget what you don’t have there. (I just remember all the milk was powdered Nestle when I lived in Penang … no cows milk! But milk isn’t a fruit!)
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:59 pm
Freedom of Speech is enshrined in the US constitution or more accurately under the first amendment of the Bill of Rights. U.S. was the first to enshrined it as a fundamental citizen right. One other country, India also have this in their constitution but for most other countries including Europe and Canada, this ‘right’ is more complex. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech#History_of_free_speech.