Politics and Culture

George Carlin is dead (He was the same age as John McCain is now.). He was an atheist so, according to him when he was alive, he's now nothing more than a cadaver, but, R.I.P. anyways (just in case.). He was also a man who stayed loyal to his wife until her death, an act which is automatically deserving of respect.

One of his most famous routines was one in which he said the seven words prohibited by the FCC. I'd like to briefly examine this issue:

What exactly is the purpose of saying offensive words on the radio? Do they express any controversial thought or important political speech? Do they edify anybody? Do they help anybody? No- it's a purely juvenile act similar to a teenager shocking their parents at a Kiwanis club meeting by lowering his pants.

It's typical of the spoiled to to rally around the most meaningless form of expression . No doubt the people who cheer this sort of behavior feel like they're big heroes: "Yeah man, did you see that square's face when we said, 'F***?'"

Now, let's examine the reason we ban these words:

I use bad words on occasion, but I don't let my kids use them. If it weren't such a titanic struggle, I'd probably correct my high school students more. Curse words coarsen the public environment- in fact, I can't think of another reason why they exist. It might not be the worst thing in the world, but it serves no positive purpose at all. Certainly, most of you are glad that we don't have to hear them on the public airwaves.

If you notice, except for war movies and films where "realism" is important, foul language is very rare in movies nowadays.

Contrast this with real abuses of freedom of speech that most of the people who listen to Carlin probably don't mind or even support. Canada is prosecuting Mark Steyn for stating facts on the air. Bridget Bardot can't opine that Muslims are mean to sheep. You're familiar with speech codes on American campuses (Carlin was popular on campuses.). I can go on and on for days citing the many ways meaningful speech in the West is being suppressed in ways that George Carlin or any of his ilk have never complained about.