rebel-less

I was reading an editorial in the metro...
bare with me for a second;
It was about how the people who disrupted a lecture at st Mary's university.
The lecture was a pro-life series that likens abortion to the holocaust.
The editorial was about how all though the writer didn't agree with the lecture, those who disrupted it were in the wrong. not only did they look like zealots leaving the speaker to look like the rational one;but because if you don't believe in free speech for those you despise, you don't believe in free speech.

The editor' s point seemed to be to give the protesters a little verbal spanking... but what he failed to realize is; The majority of people don't believe in any of the 'fundamental freedoms' anymore. Freedoms have been appropriated by special interest groups and businesses for so long now that it doesn't seem to have any bearing on our daily lives. Try to ware a politically charged t-shirt on casual Fridays, and you'll see that your freedoms are secondary to the corporate image. We are used to people being "asked to leave" if they use the "F-word" in public. and we know you cant swear in court. think about that for a second. In court of law, where your freedom to be free, is on the line. they system that we use to uphold the law; has no place for your legal freedom to free speech?
I'm sure this editor thinks he believes in free speech. After all his career relies on being able to stand behind that particular banner if dragged in to court. But I noticed that he never once let his dialogue push close to the edge. I'm not asking to read fuck in an editorial, (but it would be nice)but it would be prudent to at least venture out of the sanitized accepted phrases and tone.
The people who were disrupting a little lecture at school, maybe didn't think to much of free speech. But none of us seem to any more. we would rather force conformity on ourselves and others than uphold some ideal.
the real problem is that we have decided to suppress rebellion in people. the rebel is an image to be sold by the gap, not a lifestyle. But if we don't stand for that lifestyle, if we don't encourage the rebels we have, then we will be more sanitized, cubical-ised, and controlled. Our freedoms, the ones we take for granted, were thought up and fought for by rebels. and every day you- WE don't push the limits, we loose. the limits are pushing back, and ground is lost all the time.
so do something today, rebel in some way. anything not allowed is good. look for the rules that govern you and brake them. if you see someone brakeing a rule, cheer them on!
We all benefit from rebellion! so let your inner rebel out.