On censorship...

Censorship can be seen in many different places, through many different mediums. One such example would be the company you work for blocking out certain websites while you are at work. I can understand why the workplace would choose to block out things such as pornographic websites, but one particular company that I once worked for would sometimes go as far as blocking out a website containing news. I would basically be there for an average of 60 hours a week. This means I would work 12 hour days, and I couldn't even go online to get the news headlines when I wanted to, since I was blocked from the outside world. Fascists.

Censorship can be a serious thing. In the Soviet Union for example, the media was entirely nationalized, meaning that the only thing that was able to go into print was that which was authorized by the government. This is frightening because it is not long before the older generation forgets what truth is, and the ideals that the government wants to push is implanted into the minds of the youth. Further contributing to this problem was the fact that the iron curtain went up virtually overnight, and other areas of the world had no idea what was going on within the Soviet Union.

Another example that I would point out is Iran. In reaction to what started out as a peaceful protest to the rigged reelection of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the government has banned all media in Iran. This is terrible. Here we have a nation trying to overthrow a tyrannical government that calls itself a democracy. Yes, Iran is a democracy. What good democracy doesn't have a leader known as the Supreme Leader, who trumps the legislative body and the president? Because of the removal of the media, the good people of Iran have to use the contemptible website known as Twitter to spread word of what is going on within the nation. This is wrong on so many levels. First, and most importantly, Twitter is a pile of feces. This is the stupidest website of our time, even stupider than this blog. By using this website one can say whatever they want to describe what they are doing, as long as they can do so in 140 words or less. For example Larry King's Twitter update might say something along the lines of "Larry King is talking just to hear himself speak." Mine would say something along the lines of "Being a superhero."

I cannot use this website, because anything that I might be doing is so important and epic, that there is no way a mere 140 words can do my activity justice. Twitter in itself is censoring what you have to say by placing a limit on your words. The very concept of Twitter actually implies that what you're doing is so unimportant that if you can't get it out in less than 140 words then nobody should care. Furthermore, Facebook, a website that I am not a particular fan of, has a similar feature, where one can update their status and tell everybody their every move, such as when they are deficating, as if anybody really gives a damn. So, not only is Twitter fascist, much like my former workplace, but they steal the ideas of other people! I for one refuse to give in, and continue my boycott of Twitter, unless of course it gets purchased by the only thing on the planet that is superior to me, Google.

There are of course many other areas that encourage censorship. Many websites/public forums will censor what people post on them. To find an example of this I Googled the phrase "forum terms of use." I clicked on the Bob Seger forum, and here is what I discovered.

"Although we may monitor or review posted messages from time to time, we do not actively monitor the contents of the forums, and we are not under any obligation to do so. Each user is solely responsible and liable for the contents of his or her postings, and we are not responsible in any way for the content or opinions expressed therein. We have the right, but not the obligation, to remove, edit or move, at any time, any material posted to the forums, in each case as we deem appropriate."

So basically you can say whatever you want, unless the one who runs the forum doesn't like it. So much for the First Amendment. Sounds kind of like Iran, or maybe Nazi Germany to me.

The point is, that we are lucky that censorship is not such a dominant problem here. If it was, assholes like me couldn't sit on their computer all day blogging about a bunch of crap that nobody cares about, and twisting points of view until they are a fraction of what they once were, and their original meaning has consequently been destroyed.