Censorship?

Tuesday, 5:52am
Listening to:  "The Grand Highway" by Dan Kaufman

Insomnia.. again. I’ve had four very long days at work. My back is aching, my broken toe is killing me.. still, I can’t seem to rest. My vision is tracing pretty bad as well. Still.. my mind is filled too much w/all these random feelings & thoughts that won’t let me rest. So.. while the sleeping meds kick in, I’ll write.

Soooo.. couldn’t help but notice the new site announcement. I have mixed feelings about that whole thing. I rarely see things as black or white. I’m never completely for or completely against censorship. Censorship, like many things, is good in moderation. It’s when people start over censoring things that it begins to rub me the wrong way. An example is when they censor out "god damn it" or "god damn" on television. In most cases, the only people you’re really offending are hardcore Christians.

Swearing is something I’ve never seen a ton of point in censoring. First of all, it is completely necessary, at times, to swear to illustrate the point of something or to convey strong emotion. I understand that using certain words offend people. But really, doesn’t everything offend someone these days? Does that mean that it’s wrong? Of course not. It’s like saying that a dog has four legs so then all things that have four legs must be dogs. I also see the point of not swearing in certain situations (at customers or clients at your job or other people you deal w/professionally, swearing around or to some people can show a lack of respect, etc etc). But really.. here.. we’re writing about our thoughts here. I tend to think that I, more than most people, know how hard it already is to translate thoughts into written words. Putting guidelines on what words you are & aren’t allowed to use makes it even more difficult.

Then comes the age old debate about parental controls. Parents need to be responsible for what their kids are coming into contact w/, both on the internet as well as other medias. Then again, I also know that the majority of parents in this world couldn’t possibly care less about what their 14-year old is looking up on the internet. So that fails. I began writing here when I was 16 years-old. I know I certainly didn’t have the sort of parents that cared about the stuff I was being exposed to. However, at that age, there wasn’t too much I didn’t already know about.

I also understand the legality of it all. I would be saddened to see this site ever shut down. I have made life-long friends & given the opportunity to see the world & events through so many different sets of eyes. I have read about everyday things being written by someone halfway around the world. I’ve had great discussions w/so many people. I found kindred spirits.

So, dear DM, if you think that after writing in here for nearly 11 years, I am suddenly going to do a complete 180 & change my "R-rated" langauage.. all I have to say is.. fuck that.

Peace.