CAMPUS

Reason On Offensive Speech

Today over at Reason, writer David Harsanyi has an article defending “offensive” speech titled “The Right Not to be Offended?” It’s a good read that touches on, among other things, the controversial New York Post editorial cartoon, the FCC, Al Sharpton and the fairness doctrine.

Harsanyi isn’t so much arguing against our hypersensitivity as a culture but rather the role of government in it all. As he writes in his closing graph:

Feel free to be indignant and hurt. Feel free to boycott and to cast nasty aspersions on the decency of those who offend you. But let’s keep government out of it. If we’re not careful, the war against offensive speech could morph into a war against free speech.

I would go a step farther and say everyone should just stop being big crybabies, but I wouldn’t want Al Sharpton to call down fire and brimstone on me.