"I think that people should really say what they feel...
everybody has the right to speak their mind."
- Lenny Kravitz
That's a fascinating idea. People should say what they feel. In other words, people have the right to speak their mind and say exactly what they want to say.
If I understand how human rights work, an identified right brings with it an imposed obligation on others.
According to the United Nations, "Human rights entail both rights and obligations...The obligation to respect means that States must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights. The obligation to protect requires States to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses. The obligation to fulfil means that States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights. At the individual level, while we are entitled our human rights, we should also respect the human rights of others."
People have a responsibility - an obligation - to uphold the rights of other people.
So if people truly have a right to say what they feel - without exception - and I hinder or stifle their ability to speak their mind, am I automatically a human rights violator? I stifled my 16-year-old's speech just last week; am I a moral monster? When people violate human rights, we put them on trial and punish them. I'm not sure that
"Shut it! Don't talk to your brother that way!" is really that risable of an action. But, perhaps it is. I decided to put this egregious error into the context of other well-known human rights violators:
- Slobodan Milošević - human rights violator.
- Pol Pot - human rights violator.
- Saddam Hussein - human rights violator.
- Slave owners - human rights violators.
- Father telling his son to "shut it" - human rights violator.
As much as we (rightly) defend the ideal of free speech, I just don't think all speech (or all speakers) are inherently endowed with a level of freedom of expression that rises to the level of a fundamental human right. Libraries don't stock every published work; bookstores hide certain adult books behind locked glass; TV and radio stations edit bad language; theater owners won't let you yell "fire" in a crowded room; you can't slander or defame others; you can't incite a riot unless you are at an international soccer game; and the Secret Service won't let you threaten the president,
even if you are a hunter/gatherer/rock star.
