I am sick of the OccupyWallStreet event. It is a great exercise of free speech, and they truly get to do it for free. Events, protests, and other public gatherings require a permit from the city/county/state. Sometimes permits cost money. Some of the Occupy movements have not received a permit for their protest. Due to this flaunting of proper procedure the Richmond Tea Party is asking for their money back after paying for their event.
If the Tea Party gets their money back, I will have to admit that the OccupyWallStreet movement made free speech free.
There is of course the whole argument of "free." Free speech is paid for by the blood of patriots. However, many of us have been lucky enough to serve our country without having to shed our blood, but we still paid for it with years of service. Most people have not even done that.
There is one thing that the OccupyWallStreet movement does not realize about free speech: you have the right to say what you want, not the right to force people to listen. The human microphone is a really neat concept since it gets around electronic amplification ordinances, but it is so cultish. The Occupy crowd looks like a Jonestown waiting to happen, if they had a leader to lead them.
And as I mention Jonestown, I must protest the bad name it has given Kool-Aid. Truth be told, Jones was cheap and used Flavor-Aid, a cheap Kool-Aid rip-off.
Hence, here are free speech advocates forcing free-listening by speaking at events in which they are not invited speakers.
We understand you want to send a message. If we want to hear it we will go to the protests, watch your videos, and read your blogs. However, some people are going to events to hear something else.
If you believe free speech gives you the right to make us listen to you, we might take up the belief that our freedom of speech gives us the right to silence you. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
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