Freedom of Speech: The Most Important Indicator of Government Confidence!

2006/2/26 12:33:07

Regarding freedom of speech, Old Marx had a brilliant exposition. Having read his classic essay on freedom of speech, you'd know that Old Marx was once an angry young man too. The issue of freedom of speech is, of course, not the patented invention of angry youth — presumably even ants crawling on the ground have freedom-of-speech issues. When the individual faces the collective, this issue becomes an issue.

If speech, like a male ape's certain white residue, only sought its final resting place on walls, then freedom of speech wouldn't have become such a major issue. But male apes, besides rubbing walls, also intentionally or unintentionally let this residue become seeds and even bear fruit. To prevent a low-probability event from becoming a disaster, contraception becomes necessary. Similarly, restrictions on freedom of speech are essentially related to contraception. In structural parallel, there is also the isomorphism between social structure and sexual structure — social consciousness is the isomorphic mapping of sexual consciousness. The individual is the many; the government is the one. Like a parlor game, the restriction of freedom of speech is like this warning: To prevent AIDS, please wear a condom.

From this, we can see that the two major functions of condoms — contraception and disease prevention — are isomorphically related to the restriction of freedom of speech. As long as appropriate activities are conducted at appropriate times, condoms are absolutely superfluous. But even rationality is irrational, and engaging in inappropriate activities at inappropriate times better maintains glandular vitality. Thus condoms become indispensable — just like restrictions on freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech is not absolute — this is the realistic reality. It is precisely because of the relativity of freedom of speech that there is a need to discuss it. This way, freedom of speech avoids becoming a God-like absolute concept and truly becomes a concrete, operable issue. Advances in technology give people more confidence in their own mastery, and the occasions for using condoms will become fewer and fewer. Imagine — if AIDS were as treatable as a common cold with just some medicine, the demand for condoms would plummet. Isomorphically, only when a government's confidence significantly increases will restrictions on freedom of speech significantly decrease.

Freedom of speech: the most important indicator of government confidence — this is more meaningful than GDP!