The show was mostly about how, say, some people don't like crude language in public. Do they have a right to silence the person who's swearing? What about someone on a soapbox saying that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by the government, or even a hoax altogether -- many people find that highly offensive, knowing people who really died in the towers. Do we have a right to silence that speaker?
Where do we draw the line on what can be taught to students? Saying teachers must stick to fact is fine in some cases, but there are a lot of classes where it's the teacher's perspective, or the book's perspective, that's on display. If a student or parent is offended by a teacher's choice of reading material, do they have the right to ban it from the school so that no one has to read it?
At work, I was thinking mostly of the example of crude language or sexual innuendo. If it's a peer that does it, you can walk away, or tell them you would really rather they didn't say that around you -- in other words, you can stand up for yourself in some way. If it's your boss doing it, however, you have much less power to defend yourself and your sensibilities. Where should the authorities step in? Who decides whether it's some harmless jabber or a case of deliberate abuse? Documenting how often and when it happens can go a long way toward establishing intent... but what if the guy just has a habit of telling dirty jokes, and isn't singling out any one person?
How much power should we have over the words of the people around us, where "we" includes the government or other institutions? That's my real question. I suspect it's the same one that's been plaguing a lot of people for a long time.
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Where do we draw the line on what can be taught to students? Saying teachers must stick to fact is fine in some cases, but there are a lot of classes where it's the teacher's perspective, or the book's perspective, that's on display. If a student or parent is offended by a teacher's choice of reading material, do they have the right to ban it from the school so that no one has to read it?
At work, I was thinking mostly of the example of crude language or sexual innuendo. If it's a peer that does it, you can walk away, or tell them you would really rather they didn't say that around you -- in other words, you can stand up for yourself in some way. If it's your boss doing it, however, you have much less power to defend yourself and your sensibilities. Where should the authorities step in? Who decides whether it's some harmless jabber or a case of deliberate abuse? Documenting how often and when it happens can go a long way toward establishing intent... but what if the guy just has a habit of telling dirty jokes, and isn't singling out any one person?
How much power should we have over the words of the people around us, where "we" includes the government or other institutions? That's my real question. I suspect it's the same one that's been plaguing a lot of people for a long time.