The
articles cited above appeared in the last day or so. They emphasize
several things: the anti-Israel attitude of the Tweeter, the right
to free speech, and the concept of bullying. While I don't think
that any of these is the real problem, let me comment on them first.
Briefly. Very briefly. Her attitude – not unusual for a
protected, idealistic, but immature and ignorant (I know some will be
offended by my “judgmental” use of the words) teen-ager; free
speech – she's entitled to it however offensive her remarks may be
to some (“If
we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we
don't believe in it at all.”
-Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and political activist. He'd
probably be a staunch supporter of her views.);
bullying – too silly a suggestion to warrant response.
If
those were the issues I shouldn't waste my time writing about them,
but they're not. I'm sad for the girl, but it's not because of any
of the questions I've mentioned. I'm saddened because I suspect that
she believes she is performing a public service, and that her words
will save the world, or at least demonstrate her “virtue” to
everyone. I'm saddened because I think that she is wasting her life
in the quest. It's not the subject of her Tweets that concerns me.
Whether I agree or disagree with her opinion is irrelevant. And I
know there are many others who have expressed the same opinion more
publicly and to greater effect. Her words are falling mainly on the
screens of like-minded, and equally virtuous, teen-agers, and on the
screens of those who will disagree with her vigorously. In the long
run, however, they will have no effect and will be soon forgotten.
Of
greater concern to me than the message (and, I hope it is of concern
to her parents and her school as well) is the messenger. Twitter.
And her drowning in it.
According
to one of the articles she has sent over 21,000 messages since last
February. That's eleven months. About 330 days. Sixty-four or so
posts a day. Every day. And it wouldn't surprise me if she reads
the messages of others. According to one of the reports she has over
7,000 followers, and many of them probably respond to her Tweets.
She
probably follows other posters as well. And reads Facebook. And the
other social networks. With eating, sleeping, and school I doubt
that she has much time for anything else. And I wonder how much all
of this costs her and her parents for access fees, the device itself,
and whatever else. I wonder whether she has a real life beyond what
she reads on the screen in her hand. She, those who follow her, and
those she follows, live vicariously by reaching out to others to whom
they may never speak. They substitute what they read about others
for their own actions and lives. And by doing so they sacrifice
their lives for the privilege.
Another
concern of mine relates to the thin skin of the individual who
accused her of bullying. But even more so for those who took such a
complaint seriously. Our society has become so controlled by the
idea of “sensitivity” to the perceived feelings of all its
members – to the concepts of offense, and “hate speech” –
that we censor the words of others and self-censor our own views so
as not to cause discomfort to anyone. Our desire to be “correct”
is more harmful to free speech than the words we fear. I can only
hope that with time we'll get over this silliness.
The
issue of greatest anxiety to me, however, is the fact that the
subject of the investigation secretly recorded her conversation with
school authorities. It's easy to do nowadays, and it's encouraged by
lawyers who want evidence of every “wrong” which may lead to an
action. We ourselves have adopted this attitude and this technique
even when we don't know how we might use what we obtain. And we
certainly use it when we can foresee a use. What better to post than
an interaction with an “authority?” It's a technique of tyrants,
as well as lawyers, to secretly obtain information about people's
views, though they may put that knowledge to a different, and more
sinister, use. Nothing is a greater cause of care in what we say,
nor inhibits free speech more, than the fear that our words may be
used against us by others.
My
own concern is not what is happening to the girl who is the center of
this dispute, but what she is doing to herself. And I am even more
troubled by what we are all doing to ourselves, and to the society in
which we live. She has the right to live a virtual life if she so
chooses, but she has no right to impose her life on us and make us
live in fear.
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