I Want My MTV

As most Canadians know by now, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has deemed parts of 'Money For Nothing' by Dire Straits to be offensive and cannot be played on the radio in it's original form.

Before I say too much more we must remember that this is a rock 'n roll song. At the same time that's the whole point. It doesn't matter what is said or written we must stand up and defend everyone's right to say it. If what is said is wrong, hateful, or ridiculous, it will be judged as so.

There are two parts to free speech.

First, everyone is allowed to stand up and say what they believe. No matter how twisted or wrong it may be, if you believe it, you have the right to say it.

However, you will be judged by individuals and society on what you say. Sometimes, we seem to forget about the second part. Sometimes people think that free speech means that I can say what ever I want and I will not be judged. This is not the case. It should be judged.

By censoring other people's words we don't know everything they have said and can't properly judge them. We lose the complete picture and as such, we lose the proper context for the remaining parts. Without context we cannot see the whole picture.

I also wonder, who feels they are a guardian of what should be censored. Who has the right to say I can't be given the opportunity to judge for myself. Who's moral code is being used to decide this is offensive. The biggest problem with censorship is we don't get to see what is deemed offensive. How do we know that the censors are properly applying society's values. If we permit censorship we don't know. That's a big problem.

In the specific case of Money For Nothing, the song is 25 years old and almost everyone who cares, knows what the offending homophobic slurs are. That being said, the song doesn't really make sense without that verse.

We must stand up for free speech. The only path to enlightenment and understanding is through the sharing of uncensored ideas. Only by hearing what others truly believe can we understand our differences. Understanding our differences is the first step to accepting others and living in harmony. Anyone who does not want to live in harmony should be judged for their views.