A Right For One Is A Right For All

Hey Everyone!! :-)

I've got a little more of Alyce's adventure to share with you, today! Enjoy! :-)

Excerpt from sci-fi satire novel:
I gestured at the recreation of a Nazi rally on display. "Remember how I told you there are some people who protest for causes that are diametrically opposed to the causes others are protesting for? Well, these are some of those people. The people who march in protests like this don't want progress. They want to prevent and reverse progress. The whole premise of their ideology is that some people are inherently superior to other and that those they deem to be inferior should be denied basic human rights. And sometimes even their lives. They march in protests like this to pressure lawmakers to pass legislation that will keep people from having equal rights under the law. And to try to frighten the decent people who disagree with them into silence."

"Is that why they carry firearms? To attempt to intimidate those who do not support their agenda?" asked Squid-boy

I nodded. "Yep. People who are weak and cowardly often try to hide their deficiencies behind weaponry. As if the rest of us can't see through the fact that they're incapable of earning the respect they seek through their own merits, and so are reduced to trying to command it by force."

"Are they weak and cowardly?" asked Yax.

I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my head to the side. "What would you call people who admit upfront that they're incapable of competing with other people on a level playing field, and so they want to cheat by slanting all the rules in their favor, and then use violence to beat those who oppose them into submission when they still can't win?"

He nodded. "You're correct. I would also deem such people to be weak cowards."

I grunt. "Darn tootin'"

"But, then, why allow people who promote such a reprehensible philosophy to display their ideas so publicly? Why not simply ban them from marching?"

I felt the pressure crawling up the back of my skull and pinched the bridge of my nose to try to push it back. Sighing at how ineffectual my efforts were, I squinted at Squid-boy. "You're awful big on banning things, aren't you, sugar?"

He sputtered, but I waved away his objection before he found the words he was looking for. "We don't ban them from marching because they have the right to express their opinions. No matter how disgusting those opinions are. Now, personally, I don't think they should be allowed to wave guns around and threaten people. But a lot of our police forces seem to have a suspicious amount of sympathy for the Nazi groups. And they'll allow them to get away with a lot of things that they would arrest protestors for other causes over. Maybe it's because the people who march in these protests are the same people who have traditionally held most of the power in our society and the police almost always default to upholding the power structure. Or maybe there's another reason, I don't know. But I'm not the only person who has noticed the trend."

"But, even absent the firearms, do you think it's a good idea to allow such extremists to promote their ideology?" asked Yax.

I snorted. "It's better than the alternative."

"Which is?"

"Forcing them to hide their beliefs and promote them clandestinely. At least if their hatemongering and nonsensical notions are out in the open, they can be challenged and countered with facts and evidence. If they're kept to the shadows, their claims go uncontested and unanswered. Much better to drag their lies into the light where they can be exposed. It's called the free marketplace of ideas. Differing and competing ideologies can be compared and examined and those that don't measure up are shown to be lacking where everyone can see. Besides, if a right is taken away from one person, it can be taken away from anyone. If these people were denied their right to speak, then no one's right to free speech would be safe. It's only by ensuring the same rights for everyone that anyone's rights are safe."

The big alien sighed and shrugged. "A truism that transcends species. Though, it does seem ironic that the people whose rights are protected by such a principle advocate so strongly against it."

I shrugged. "People so blinded by their own hatred and insecurities miss a lot of things. But that doesn't change the fact that the rest of us protect our own rights by allowing them theirs."