The Limits of Freedom of Speech

We celebrate freedom of speech as one of our cherished rights.  But is this freedom without any limits?  Should we be permitted to offend another person’s family, religion, physical traits, and country?  I do not think so.

Events unfolding in front of our eyes in France, Belgium, and Denmark highlight the need for circumspection about the right of free speech.  It is not limitless.  Like all rights we enjoy there are boundaries.  Those boundaries are violated whenever others find our speech offensive, in my view.  Flaunting freedom of speech obscures the  limits set by good manners and in some cases by laws.

Pope Francis reminds us that insulting one’s mother could be met with a slap in the face or worse. So when does speech by one person become an insult to others?  Are free to insult others willy-nilly?  I do not think so.  Should our speech provoke and be offensive to others?  I do not think so. 

A day does not pass that we are not subjected to gruesome pictures of murders of all kinds … drive-bys, mass executions, bombings, ethnic and religious strife, and so on.  There is no end in sight, it seems.  The reporting often seems to distort the causes, the impact, and the suffering.  There appears to be emphasis in reporting who commits these crimes, and not that these crimes are all irreprehensible.

Perhaps one of the most troubling aspects for me is the hypocrisy of society at large.  We are taught to be civil, politically correct, least we offend others who are different in skin color, religious persuasion, gender, age, handicap, and heritage.  We even have laws that prohibit racial, gender, or ethnic slurs, for example, contributing to a hostile workplace. 

Although I am against killing of any kind, the fervor about freedom of speech in Europe leaves me cold.  Some of the cartoons deriding Prophet Muhammad appear to be provocations and incendiary.  Insulting someone else’s religious beliefs, in my view, goes beyond the boundaries of good taste and the political correctness that we proudly promote. 

I am not an apologist for the actions of those who in the name of God commit murders. I am just a by-stander fed up with the carnage I see every night or read about every day.  I say stop insulting other people’s beliefs … have more respect for our differences. 

Freedom of speech does not include diarrhea of the mouth.  I do not see the point of ridiculing someone else beliefs in the name of freedom of speech.  I do not approve of provoking others to commit assaults of any kind.  Do you? 

  

Publishing My First Book

    For years colleagues and friends have suggested that I write a book about my experience as an international consultant, executive, and organization development specialist.  I have demurred for lack of a burning desire to do so, and by the thought that I might not have much to add to what has already been said more eloquently by others.  

     Since my retirement I publish two different blogs.  In one I share my thoughts, insights, and observations with colleagues and ex-coworkers collected over many years of working, managing, and consulting.  In the other I share general observations about world events, politics, and social issues. Of the one-hundred plus postings, about 20% have generated interest and commentary.  Although my sample is relatively small, it seems that, on occasion, I do push some buttons.   There is no hidden, running theme among these postings or any particular message behind them.  Some are humorous; others possibly intriguing; and a few perhaps painful caricatures of life.   

     I have been complimented by friends and colleagues on my story telling ability.  Perhaps, there is a little Fellini in my approach.  Federico Fellini, the well-known and award-winning Italian movie director and screenwriter, captured our imagination with his neo-realist films.  In his films, he combined fantasy and baroque images to illustrate the day-to-day life of common people.  He was a master of irony, combining often comedic with tragic events to take the edge off painful life situations and challenges.  I am not in the same class as this great artist, just a humble imitator.  

     

     Another person that has impacted my style is the well known Nobel Prize winner for literature and fellow Sicilian Luigi Pirandello.  His famous play Six Characters in Search of an Author has been a cherished pair of lenses that has helped me peek inside contemporary organizations.   Pirandello’s play describes the relationship between authors, their characters, and theater practitioners.  The play showcases the unexpected arrival of six strangers.  It turns out that they were unfinished characters in search of an author to finish their story.  During my working life, I have seen different people assume different roles inside an organizational story … leaders, individual contributors, managers, wives and husbands, and owners … sometimes hiding their real self and not ready to play out their part.  I am not in Pirandello’s class, by any means either, just a humble admirer.

   A third person captured my imagination as a student of organizations. His name is Jerry B. Harvey, Professor Emeritus of Management at the George Washington University.  He is the author of more than 50 articles and two books:  The Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management, and How Come Every Time I Get Stabbed in the Back, My Fingerprints Are on the Knife?  He is also featured in three classic teaching videos focusing on organization behavior:  The Asoh Defense, The Gunsmoke Phenomenon, and The Abilene Paradox.  Harvey is a master storyteller.  He interjects humor with an aw-shucks style to bring across complex organizational principles and insights.  I credit his work as a big help in my practice as an organization consultant.  When possible, I try to imitate his approach, surely not with his level of effectiveness.

     It has been said that we spend, as adults, most of our time, awake, inside organizations, first as employees and later, if we are at the right place at the right time, as managers or consultants.   To my knowledge, there is no course in high school or college that prepares us for working and living inside such a complex system.  We are usually taught abstract concepts and theories intended primarily for managers, consultants or aspirants.  I do not feel qualified to write this course. 

     Instead I have chosen writing a novel, my first one.  It is a fictional story about a young man who grows up in a sea of contradictions, but lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.  He goes about living a successful academic and professional life, but he never manages to resolve significant incongruities.  The title of the novel appropriately is Giacomo’s Luck Runs Out.  It will be published in April and it will be available on Amazon in paperback or in Kindle versions.  I have chosen the pen name of Antonio G. Sacchetta.  I hope you will read it and send me your comments. 

     I have already started my research for my second novel.  I have discovered that writing is addictive and that it is an easy way to discover your own unresolved issues and dilemmas.  I encourage you to write, even if it is for just yourself.