Tired of Censorship

 Big Brother is Watching YOU

"Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion, or prohibiting 
the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the 
right of the people peaceably to assemble, 
and to petition the Government for a redress 
of grievances."
-Amendment I, Constitution of the United 
States (1791)

Art.  Music.  Film.  Literature.  Have you ever
 considered what life would be like without 
them? 

Now, think about this for a minute.  What if 
it were against the law to listen to Nine 
Inch Nails or Ministry?  What if you were 
not allowed to read "Catcher in the Rye," 
"The Naked Lunch," or - god forbid - 
"Huckleberry Finn?"  How would you feel 
if the works of Klimt or Botticelli were 
condemned as being obscene?  Or that 
movies like "The Crow" or "Pulp Fiction" 
suddenly became contraband?  

Maybe you care, and maybe you don't.  But 
sometimes it's the things we take for granted 
in our lives that we actually stand the highest 
risk of losing.  In this increasingly Orwellian 
and repressed society in which we live, Big 
Brother - namely our political system - is trying 
to control our access to the arts by vanquishing 
our rights to artistic freedom.

Those overzealous politicians running Capitol 
Hill claiming to "protect" the rights of American 
citizens are becoming virtual thought police.  
Do we really need hypocritical right-wing 
megalomaniacs like Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich 
telling us what movies we can watch, what books 
we can read, what music we can listen to, even 
what we can access via the Internet.  They do not 
have our best interests in mind; they are motivated 
by greed and power.  Standing high upon their 
mighty pulpits, these scripture-quoting, self-serving 
messianic "saviours" are out to save our wretched 
souls from any type of artistic expression that 
threatens to corrupt and create a morally-bankrupt 
society.  Yeah, right.

Are we really in America, the land of the free?  
Or are we really more like caged animals, trapped 
helplessly and waiting for some fucking scientist 
to probe and dissect our brains.  We should be 
frightened...and angry.  I am.

Censorship is wrong.  It is nothing new, but with 
each passing year it becomes more and more of a 
real threat to our artistic freedom.  Witness 
Time-Warner recently distancing itself from 
Interscope Records - home to many popular "gangsta" 
rap artists and cutting-edge alternative groups like 
Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson.  

Restrictive censorship can create real harm.  
An unscrupulous politician can seize upon the 
hysterical and neurotic attitudes people harbor
 towards what they consider morally-offensive
 material conducive to prurient interests.  These 
power-mongers will successfully sway these 
mindless puppets into supporting repressive 
legislation that will extend far beyond the control
 of the printed word, the recorded voice, or the
 photographed image.  I tell you, who will get the
 last laugh?

More often than not, the media tends to regulate 
itself.  In 1985 a group called The Parents 
Resource Music Center tried unsuccessfully to get 
record companies to adopt a voluntary content 
ratings system for records, similar - but more 
stringent - to a film ratings system.  Since that 
time, record companies have labeled certain 
recordings with a "Parental Guidance - Explicit 
Lyrics" sticker to warn parents of material 
unsuitable for children.  They are allowing the 
public to freely judge for themselves what is, or is
 not, detrimental to the minds and mores of society's 
youth.  

While I agree that there are some lyrics, some 
films, and some books that are inappropriate 
for young children, I do not believe that this 
material should be ILLEGAL.  There is an 
argument for concern here.  However, state 
and federal governments have no right to 
intervene in an attempt to "purify" communities 
of what is "evil" or "unclean."  And that IS a 
danger which lurks in the shadows.

It is both sad and humiliating to think that 
our government has such little faith in society's 
individual ability to judge what is "right" or 
"wrong."  We should not allow the government 
to spoonfeed us mind-controlling bullshit, just 
so they can win votes.  We can take care of 
ourselves.  Do we really need, or want, the 
government to police us?