Why the Right Cant Speak on Campuses

The founding of the United States teaches a person a lot about what government should strive to be. Our founding fathers created this country to ensure absolute freedom and liberty was granted to those who live in this prosperous country. To them, the most important aspect of a free country, was free speech. Thus, why this is granted to us in the First Amendment. However, an idea has been circulating, that not all speech should be protected, and that there is such thing as ‘hate speech’. This idea of hate speech has obstructed the ability for conservatives to speak on college campuses. One well known conservative it has affected especially, is Ben Shapiro, Editor In Chief of the Daily Wire.

There are a few misconceptions about speech and Ben Shapiro that appear in the thoughts of the left. The first is the idea that Ben Shapiro is in any way dangerous. Ben Shapiro is a 5’7”, 35 year old Jewish man, who looks just about as harmful as my grandmother knitting in her old rocking chair. I mean no disrespect to Shapiro, for he is an inspiration to thousands on the right. But to assume this man, can in anyway harm another human, is downright illogical, and hilarious.

Secondly, that Shapiros words incite violence and hatred in the right. However, even if Shapiro were to express hate towards a group, which he has never done, it would not be considered inciting violence because he does not advocate for the violence of others. This is because words cannot provoke action unless it is a direct call for an action. For example, I’ll use arguably the most controversial belief Shapiro holds. Shapiro states that one cannot simply change their gender, and that Gender Dysphoria (Gender Identity Disorder/Transgenderism) is in fact a mental illness that needs to be treated as such. Shapiro uses an analogy to describe his beliefs, in which he says “My grandfather was bipolar… he thought the radio was talking to him. They put him in a mental hospital. They did not tell him the radio was talking to him to allow him to live a better life”. He is saying that we should not be lying to transgender people about their condition but rather trying to treat it. In no way does Shapiro express a want for violence against the transgender community, in addition to that, he doesn’t even express hatred.

Ironically, Shapiros so called “hate speech” is a contributing factor for the mass need of security during his events. When a conservative comes to a college campus, extra precautions have to be taken to ensure the safety of these so called dangerous humans, to ensure that “balloons filled with feces, urine and chemicals” are not thrown at them (Taylor). It is the sole reason why security costs “$600,000 [and that] Normally, an individual campus would be responsible for paying security costs associated with hosting a speaker. But the extraordinary cost associated with the controversial appearances … led UC President Janet Napolitano to help foot the bill” (Seltzer). That article was written in 2017, and Shapiros fame has since grown enormously, meaning now it only costs more to have him speak.

All this is because it is not uncommon to see the left protesting unfairly or violently during any expression of conservative thought on a campus. Just last week a conservative student was punched in the jaw, and knocked to the ground, for attempting to recruit students for Turning Point USA. Steven Crowder was punched in the face by a protestor in 2012 after questioning an angry group of people. Most events with conservative speakers are usually described as “an orderly event, attended by respectful orderly people” yet outside these events it is very different. In Shapiros 2017 UC Berkeley, nine protesters were arrested at the event. One kid named Nick Handley stated at this event that its “really sad” that there needs to be such a heavy police presence “because a speaker wants to share his views”. He stated he would have brought more friends to the event, but many opted out due to fear of violence at the event (Thanawala). It is unlikely that conservatives call for violence, yet they seem to receive it frequently. It has become increasingly dangerous to be considered conservative in today’s political climate.

The ability to speak a freely has become consequential when your words are “controversial”, and the idea that hate speech needs to suppressed is dangerous. This is one of the biggest reasons Shapiros famous slogan is “facts don’t care about your feelings”. Although this is a petty and savage saying, it has great truth. Hate speech is based entirely on feeling, which is subjective, and we cannot let that dictate our universal fact. We have already started to see this happen with the Me Too movement, where “her truth” has mattered more than the truth. I personally have no problem with the Me Too movements objective to call out sexual predators and awful humans alike, but to suggest that we need to believe all women is idiotic. We need to ensure that the truth always comes forth superior to all feelings. The only way to ensure the truth will out, is that free speech is guaranteed.

Citations:

Seltzer, Rick. “UC President to Pay Half of Security Costs for Shapiro, Yiannopoulos.” Inside Higher Ed, Inside Higher Ed, 21 Sept. 2017, www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/09/21/uc-president-pay-half-security-costs-shapiro-yiannopoulos.

Taylor, Sarah. “Antifa Thugs' Protesting Hits New, Horrible Level: Read Police Chief's Account of 'Feces' Mayhem.” TheBlaze, TheBlaze, 13 Dec. 2018, www.theblaze.com/news/2017/06/24/antifa-thugs-protesting-hits-new-horrible-level-read-police-chiefs-account-of-feces-mayhem.

Thanawala, Sudhin. “Multiple Arrests at Ben Shapiro Berkeley Protests.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 15 Sept. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/09/15/ben-shapiro-berkeley-protest-arrests/669071001/.