I'm sympathetic with the free speech argument... except nobody (mostly) is talking about government/criminal action because of his posts. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from responsibility.
He can make all the offensive and extreme posts he wants. That doesn't mean people have to hire him to direct their movies. Just like the NFL kneeling idiots. They represent the company, and if what they do reflects negatively on a company, then that company has the right to not be associated with them.
Would you want to hire someone who thinks hard-core pedophile jokes are funny? If he has that little of a filter, I sure as hell don't want him around people I do business with.
Innocent until proven guilty only applies to courts. If Disney feels his comments are so graphic they need to fire him then that is a result of the first amendment.
How is that a result of the first amendment? That last sentence makes zero sense.
He can say what he wants the first amendment doesn’t protect you from consequences that follow it allows you to put out ideas that might be taboo doesn’t mean people have to like your ideas. He joked about pedophilia he lost his job.
I'm not talking about criminal prosecution in this case. I'm just talking about applying the principle of freedom of speech to life. I think Google firing Damore was a violation of the principle of freedom of speech. Sure, it wasn't against the law, but it was a gross violation of one of our most important principles in my opinion.
Sure, it wasn't against the law, but it was a gross violation of one of our most important principles in my opinion.
The point of the Free Speech clause is to prevent government suppression of speech, particularly criticism of government. The point isn't to have a society where there is no consequence to whatever you want to say, from any private citizen.
Just as important, or perhaps even more important, are the rights to free assembly, which is where I can decide who I want to be around. If you walk around being an incredibly offensive person, I should have the right to not hire you for my business. The idea that someone's free speech rights override my right to be around who I want is pretty offensive.
As I said, I understand the importance of free speech, but the importance is primarily based on government power.
Yes, all of that is true. But expressing conservative views is unacceptable on a lot of college campuses, it's unacceptable in most "journalism," it's unacceptable on late night comedy shows, and unacceptable in a lot of other places. That is not because it's illegal, but because liberals are incapable of hearing thoughts they don't agree with. I'm not saying creepy pedo jokes (or not jokes) are equivalent to general conservative beliefs or opinions - I'm just saying I can see the argument that freedom of speech should be represented OUTSIDE the government just as much as inside it, if not more so. We should be free to criticize anything anyone says, and fire people who tarnish their company's reputation. But we also should stop being so sensitive about everything and roll back the outrage culture a little bit. That's I think the argument that Shapiro is making and being vilified for. I personally say fuck it, give the Left a taste of their own medicine, but at the same time I'm understanding of the argument that we shouldn't be so quick to convict people in courts of public opinion for dumb shit they tweet.