Thursday, February 23, 2017

Freedom Unless Someone Disagrees


I read recently that a company agreed to stop selling a t-shirt for a very popular television show because they were getting complaints that the saying on the shirt was racist. 
The show-The Walking Dead
The saying Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe

If you don't watch the show, that phrase was used by a big, bad character when choosing who is was going to kill. 

I'm sure everyone has heard this or said it. It's used by children when choosing something or someone.  The shirt is reported to be racist because the phrase is a children's rhyme that goes something like this:

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe. Catch a tiger by it's toe. If he hollars, let him go. My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are (not) it. I think the wording may vary some by region.

Apparently all the controversy is that in the past the word tiger was exchanged for a derogatory racial term. Truthfully you can substitute anything with toes for tiger, preferably two syllables. 

Pretty long example but it proves my point well. It's not even something blatant on the shirt. It's also absolutely ridiculous. Also ridiculous that a small group can dictate what a store sells or who wears what shirt.

Should lactose intolerant people protest the sales of dairy products and threaten a ban against any store that sells dairy products? 

'We' have become a society of overly sensitive cry babies who want to make decisions for others; over stupid things like t-shirts. If you don't like it, then don't buy it. I really think people don't realize just how good we have it in the US. We have more freedom to make choices about how we live our lives than most countries. 

Just think about the countries who have censored internet access, are limited in the number children they can have, have bans on religious freedoms, etc.. Some people in the US really abuse the freedoms we have and try to use them to control others. 

It's really sad to think that someone who has the freedom to make choices on where they work, how they spend their money and free time has decided to use that freedom to try and force others to their thinking and take away those same freedoms from people who disagree with them.

I wonder if a group should be created, maybe call it LiveAndLetLive, who is dedicated to protecting the freedoms the other groups are dedicated to taking. One problem I can see right away is that the people who would join that group, just live their lives and don't bother anyone or plan to. Another problem would be the risk of that group turning into what they are fighting against. 

It's a shame that companies only listen to the loudest voices and don't consider the entire population in their decision making. 





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