It is not an allowance and a right to say whatever you want to whomever you want with no regards to common decency. It is not a monologue but a chance to participate in a dialogue. It does not mean that everybody’s opinion is equality worth in each environment nor that having an opinion makes you right.

Free speech is one of the rights on which free societies (as free as they can get while we all learn that rights come with responsibilities) are predicated upon, but in the homogenization in which all have a chance to speak we are confusing this chance with competence. The fault of democracies is believing all are equally equipped to contribute to every single matter and it is simply not true. Considering your opinion only monologues to be listened to you’re basically polarizing the world into those who agree with you and those who don’t agree with you, effectively producing a standoff between the “good guys” and the “bad guys”, presuming of course that all that agree are the good guys.

You’re always speaking from a limited perspective of one individual – remember that the next time you try to force your opinions and stances onto someone else. Truth is a contextual thing and the “truth” you experienced yourself might look quite different to someone with different background. This is why the existence of right and left is a good thing but the enlarging gap between them is not. It means the lack of discussion on things that matter because the idea that any side is completely right or completely wrong on all counts is absurd. The truth is somewhere in between, buried under pouting, demagoguery and playing cowboys and Indians.

Don’t just adopt one side or the other, hide behind a cause or an idea and accept their readymade arguments because it is easier and convenient. Listen, think, weigh and then speak – intelligently, informed and with an opened mind. This is what free speech grants you, not a blank pardon to act like a jerk with no consequences.