do you people really think we have freedom of speech in this country?

Question

i dont think we do, we only have freedom of speech, as long as we have nothing to say.

Answer 1

NOT ANYMORE. Think about it. You can't call anybody black, they're now "African American". You can't have Christmas decorations on your house, because a Jew might complain. You can't speak out against your government or you called a traitor, and you can't support your government because you'll be called a fascist nazi. Political Correctness has been pushed so far that you're not allowed to say anything bad about ANYBODY or else you're in violation of yahoo Q and A guidelines! Ultimately what we're telling people is that the only way to stay out of trouble is to shut the phuck up. Which is about as UN-American as we can be.

Answer 2

Well the ACLU does a pretty good job when they handle those kinds of cases. You still have freedom of speech. You just don't have the freedom to make anyone listen. OK the exception is not being able to say anything about political candidates 60 days before an election. I believe that was sponsored by a Repub and a Dem. McCain and Kennedy?

Answer 3

I think we do have some freedom of speech but when what you are saying grows into something that threatens the power of the goverment or the structure of society then the goverment will try to censor it
The Black Panthers are a great example they had an idea to empower their community and acted on it, when the goverment saw that they were serving breakfast to children before school the head of the FBI said this was the biggest threat to the american goverment because it would make people stop needing the goverment's help so they attacked the BPP untill all the leaders were dead or in exile and began serving breakfast in schools

Answer 4

Freedom of speech in the UK is "qualified" meaning that we have freedom of speech to an extent but there are limitations - such as libel and slander and inciting racial or religious hatred. This protection is there for everybody and we all benefit from it in one way or another.

I do however believe that this government have gone too far and the UK is becoming a police state - all the elements of a police state are being put in place, one thing at a time, so many things go unnoticed or unchallenged until too late.......

Answer 5

No, we do not have freedom of speech. The constatution dosn't say we have freedom of speech unless we offend sombody, it should be unconditional. For instance, Don Imus, I dont agree with what he said, but he should have the right to say it. Also, why dose the FCC get to decide what is ok? If you dont like whats on the TV or radio, turn it off, dont turn it into a lawsuit!

Answer 6

You have freedom of speech within the confines of the law.

It's the same as saying that your freedom to swing your fist around stops at the tip of my nose.

So your freedom of speech is restricted to not abusing people depending on race, religion, politics or ethnicity.

I think that Billy Connolly had it right - he said that the only people you can insult or tell jokes about nowadays are white heterosexual men who are in gainful employment :)

This is basically Political Correctness, and maybe it has gone too far.

HTH

Philip

Answer 7

We have freedom of speech.

Freedom does not mean that one does not have consequences resulting from what one says. Freedom just means that the government won't censor speech that doesn't infringe on someone else's rights. That doesn't mean that others can't respond negatively.

Imus, for example, wasn't fired because of the government. He was fired because his private employers made a choice about his continued viability at his company. He is still free to say what he wants. He just can't use CBS's and MSNBC's microphones to do it.

Answer 8

Yes we do. Look at this forum. Read a newspaper. Check out the opinion comments on any cable television station. We have wonderful freedom of speech in the USA.

Answer 9

lol you building up to next question bets are on

On here freedom of speech well it is Q&A go where you want

Out here You talking to me ? You talking to me ? Shud up

Since PC its even more down hill when you open that front door you put the straight jacket on and keep quiet! the whole country is surpressed

Freedom of speech = You have the right to remain quiet

Answer 10

If you're in the UK as I suspect, you can say anything you like, so long as it isn't racist abuse (using racist swearwords at people, the 'n' word etc), swearing at people (which is assault) or doesn't incite people to racial or religious hatred.

So... saying to someone that you think all white / black / asian / dutch people are lazy will not get you arrested, but if you stand on a soapbox in the street and shout "all scottish / spanish / mongolian are lazy, let's give the b3stards a kicking" then you're in trouble.

Of course, saying the first one doesn't mean you won't get mauled by the papers, or your boss won't tell you to get lost. They're exercising their freedom of speech too.