PEW RESEARCH LOOKED INTO STATISTICS REGARDING PEOPLE
IN AMERICA, AND WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT OFFENSIVE SPEECH.
SHOULD THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT STEPPED IN AND BAN SPEECH THAT IS DEEMED
OFFENSIVE TO MINORITIES?
IF YOU LOOK AT CERTAIN DEMOGRAPHICS, PEOPLE SAY YES.
LET'S LOOK SPECIFICALLY AT MILLENNIAL'S, AND THIS IS
THE PART OF THE STUDY THAT INFURIATED ME BECAUSE IT IS
MY GENERATION AND THEY ARE WRONG.
IF YOU LOOK AT U.S.
MILLENIALS, FORTY PERCENT OF THEM BELIEVE THAT THE GOVERNMENT
SHOULD BE ABLE TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM SAYING THESE THINGS.
FIFTY-EIGHT PERCENT, LIKELY THE MAJORITIES SAY THAT THE
GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT STEP IN, AND ALLOWED PEOPLE TO SAY
WHATEVER THEY WANT.
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US?
I GET IT, PEOPLE SAY OFFENSIVE THINGS ALL THE TIME THAT I
HATE, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO VIOLATE THEIR RIGHT TO SAY
THAT OFFENSIVE THINGS BECAUSE MY FEELINGS WERE HURT.
FIRST SOMETHING GOOFY, THEN SOMETHING SUBSTANTIVE.
I LIKE THAT THE GENERATION THAT IS SEVENTY ñ EIGHTY YEARS OLD IS
APPARENTLY CALLED SILENT.
THERE IS A GEN X, BOOMERS AND THERE IS A SILENT.
I DID NOT NOTICE THAT, THAT IS AWESOME.
HOW EMBARRASSING WOULD IT BE IF YOU ARE IN THE SILENT
GENERATION.
TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE SILENT GENERATION IS PROBABLY THE
GENERATION THAT IS MORE LIKELY TO SAY THE OFFENSIVE THINGS.
EXACTLY THE POINT I WAS GOING TO MAKE.
SO THEY ARE TRYING TO PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS TO BE RACIST.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I GET IT, EUROPEAN COUNTRIES HAVE
BANNED THE HATE SPEECH.
TEACH SPEECH IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM SPEECH THAT IS MEANT
TO OFFEND.
BUT ALSO, IT IS A SLIPPERY SLOPE.
WHO GETS TO DECIDE WHAT IS CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE?
WHO GETS TO ENFORCE THOSE LAWS.
DO WE REALLY TRUST THE GOVERNMENT THAT IS
EXTREMELY CORRUPT, TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT IS AND
WHAT ISN'T OFFENSIVE SPEECH TOWARDS MINORITIES?
AND THINK ABOUT THIS SHOW, WE SAY OFFENSIVE THINGS ALL
THE TIME.
WE CRITICIZE RELIGION, FOR INSTANCE, PRETTY AGGRESSIVELY.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
DOES THAT MEAN THE GOVERNMENT STEPPED IN AND SAYS, THERE
ARE SOME CHRISTIANS, AND MUSLIMS, AND ULTRA-ORTHODOX
JEWS WHO DON'T LIKE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, SO BOOM, FINE.
THAT IS CRAZY.
WE'RE SUPPOSED TO DEBATE IDEAS.
I AM GOING BACK TO THE SILENCE.
I DON'T WANT TO BE A JUST, AND OUR WONDERFUL MEMBERS OF THE
SILENT COMMUNITY IN OUR AUDIENCE.
I DON'T OFTEN HEAR FROM THEM, BUT THEY ARE THERE AND I
LOVE THEM.
LET'S BE REAL, I HAVE DECIDED THAT AGE GROUP GREW UP IN A
DIFFERENT CULTURE, AND IS MORE LIKELY TO SAY OFFENSIVE THINGS.
SOME BECAUSE THEY WANT TO SAY IT AND ENJOY SAYING IT, SOME
BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW THAT THE TIMES OF CHANGE.
THEY WILL SAY THE CHINA MAN, OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
BETTER TO BE SILENT.
BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY ARE ALL GUILTY, OR THEY ARE
ALL WRONG, OF COURSE NOT.
THE SAME IDEA APPLIES TO THIS ENTIRE CONVERSATION.
WE HAVE TO LET PEOPLE ñ WE HAVE TO HEAR THEM OUT.
IF YOU ARE NOT AFRAID OF THE IDEAS, YOU SHOULD NOT TRY
TO SUPPRESS ANYONE'S SPEECH.
EVEN IF THEY ARE HIDEOUS PEOPLE.
MOST OF THE WORLD DOES NOT AGREE WITH US.
ONLY THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE THIRTY NATIONS POLLED
BELIEVE THAT WHAT WE DO, THAT OFFENSIVE THINGS SHOULD BE
ALLOWED TO BE SAID.
THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT BLOCK OFFENSIVE SPEECH.
TWO THIRDS OF AMERICANS BELIEVE IT, GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT
BLOCK IT.
IN THE REST OF THE WORLD IT IS A MINORITY WHO BELIEVE THAT.
WE GET THAT OFFENSIVE THINGS HURT, WE TALK ABOUT IT ALL
THE TIME.
IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CAN GO TO EITHER EXTREME.
IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD GO OUT AND DO WHATEVER YOU
WANT, IT MEANS YOU ARE ALLOWED TO EXPRESS YOURSELF, AND WE
CAN BEAT YOU BACK WITH OUR IDEAS.
ANOTHER THING TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION, OFFENSIVE
SPEECH IS DIFFERENT FROM SPEECH THAT INCITES VIOLENCE.
IF YOU ARE INCITING VIOLENCE, THERE ARE LAWS THAT PROTECT
PEOPLE FROM THAT.
YOU DON'T WANT CRAZY PEOPLE TO CARRY OUT ACTS OF VIOLENCE
BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN INCITED, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU SHOULD
BUILD TO DEBATE IDEAS WITHOUT
THE FEAR THAT YOU WILL OFFEND SOMEBODY AND THEN THE
GOVERNMENT STEPS IN.
I DON'T WANT ANYONE CREATING A BOTTLENECK ON SPEECH.
IMHO BELIEVER, I BELIEVE THAT REASON AND LOGIC WILL WIN.
IN THE SHORT TERM WE WILL SUFFER HEAVY CASUALTIES.
RELIGION WINS, THE RIGHT WING WIN, BUT NO MATTER WHAT
YOUR POLITICS ARE, DO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT OPERATING BASED
ON FACTS, NOT TAUGHT IN THE SHORT-TERM?
ALL THE TIME.
BUT IN THE LONG RUN, I BELIEVE THE TRUTH HAS AN ADVANTAGE.
BEING THAT BELIEVER, I SAY LET IT ALL OUT AND I BET WE WENT.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, NO MATTER HOW OFFENSIVE YOU WANT TO
BE AGAINST FOUR, 2+2 STILL EQUALS FOUR.
THERE ARE TRUTHS IN THE WORLD.
SMALL THING.
WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T WANT SPEECH TO BE LIMITED
BECAUSE WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT, WHOEVER THESE ARBITERS ARE,
AND WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO COME AFTER YOUR OWN SPEECH.
EVERYONE IS LIKE, I CAN'T SAY SIMPLE, BASIC THINGS,
BECAUSE WHOEVER THE GOVERNMENT IS IN POWER TWENTY YEARS
FROM NOW WILL SAY, I DON'T LIKE WHAT YOU SAID, AND WE WILL
LOOK AT THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRY.
THERE IS THAT, BUT THE PROBLEM THAT HAPPENS IS, I THINK WE
ARE CHARACTERIZING THIS GROUP OF MINORITIES, OR THE
OPPRESSED, AS JUST FEELINGS GETTING HURT.
THIS TYPE OF SPEECH LEAST ACTUAL VIOLENCE WHERE PEOPLE
ACTUALLY DIED.
WHEN PEOPLE COME ON PROTESTERS AND SAY F YOU YOU N WORDS, AND
THIS AND THAT, AND WE JUST SAY, HAVE AT IT, THEN PEOPLE GET
KILLED.
THEN WE SAY, MAYBE WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, IT IS
TOO LATE IF IT WAS YOUR BROTHER OR FATHER THAT GOT KILLED.
THERE AT LEAST NEEDS TO BE A RECOGNITION THAT THESE
THINGS ARE CONNECTED, IT IS NOT JUST, YOU HURT MY FEELINGS.
IT IS, THIS LEADS TO SOMETHING.
WE TALK ABOUT DONALD TRUMP EVERY DAY, HOW HE TOLD HIS SUPPORTERS,
DO THIS, FUCK THEM, THEY ARE NOT REALLY HUMANS.
YOU CAN KILL THINGS THAT ARE HUMANS, THEY ARE BUG.
SO THERE'S A THOUGHT PROCESS THAT BEGINS, AND IT
DEVELOPS INTO SOMETHING WORSE.
SO MAYBE THERE IS A MIDDLE GROUND, I DON'T KNOW.
THERE HAVE TO BE, BUT LET'S NOT ACT LIKE EVERYTHING HAS
BEEN TREATED FAIRLY LITTLE TIME.
BUT I THINK WE ALREADY IN A MIDDLE GROUND.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE ARE RIGHT, BUT HEAR ME OUT.
FIRST OF ALL, JAYAR HAVE AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE FROM TODAY.
THE GUYS IN MINNEAPOLIS, THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS CAME UP
ON THE BLACK PROTESTERS WHO WERE PROTESTING ANOTHER YOUNG
MAN WHO WAS SHOT BY THE COPS, THEY ANTAGONIZE THE
PROTESTERS, THE PROTESTERS TRIED TO CHASE THEM AWAY, AND
THEN THE WHITE GUYS TOOK OUT THEIR GUNS AND STARTED
CHEWING THE BLACK GUYS AND HIT FIVE OF THEM.
LUCKILY NO ONE DIED.
SO THOSE WORDS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.
BUT I THINK THE RIGHT MIDDLE GROUND IS, ALLOW ALL SPEECH, BUT
HAVE REASONABLE BALANCE.
YOU CAN'T SHOUT OUT FIRE IN A CROWDED THEATER.
THAT THE CLICH… EXAMPLE PEOPLE USE.
YOU CAN'T SAY, PICK UP A GUN AND SHOOT THE GUY.
THAT'S ILLEGAL.
SO IT IS NOT A ARE NO BOUNDS TO SPEECH.
WE CAN ALSO SAY, MONEY ISN'T SPEECH, YOU CAN'T GIVE SOMEONE
$1 MILLION AND CALL THAT SPEECH.
OF COURSE THERE ARE RESTRICTIONS YOU CAN GIVE ON SPEECH, AND
WE HAVE THEM ALREADY.
I WOULD BE HESITANT TO GO FURTHER, BECAUSE AS HURTFUL
AS TRUMP IS, HE IS GOING TO BE THE VICTIM IF YOU SAY, YOU
ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SAY THE THINGS.
THAT IS GOING TO GET BOTTLED UP, AND EXPLODE IN A WAY THAT I
THINK IS EVEN MORE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.