Scarlet Letter R

7/25/2015

Can we all just admit that weve said something fucked up? Or at least that
weve thought something fucked up? The first is catharsis, and the second is out of
ones control. Youve possibly told a friend you wanted to kill or beat up your boss.
What if that conversation got recorded and put on YouTube and ruined your life? I
woke up this morning in Snowmass Village, Colorado very early - too early - so I
decided to check my Facebook. Dusty Smith from Cult of Dusty was talking about a
new scandal that recently broke that featured Hulk Hogan saying racist shit. The
WWE fired him and scrubbed the record of his existence clean from their site,
apparently. This has only been done once before, when Chris Benoit killed his wife
and child, so are they equating the two scenarios? I read the comments on sites
about this, and most people seem to be okay with WWEs response to this am I
the only bothered by this shit happening?
The WWE has the right to fire him, by all means. I lean libertarian, so why
not? Though, Hulk Hogan apparently said this in what he thought was a moment of
privacy to one specific person, not on the public record. So in a sense, he was
punished for committing a thought crime. Though, it is illegal in this country to fire
a person for their race. Now, as a libertarian, I wouldnt advocate for this... but
couldnt we also make it illegal to fire a person for thought crimes or thoughts
expressed in a private setting? I mean, its just as much an injustice to see such a
person get fired. Yes, he admitted to being racist, but there is no proof he acted on
this prejudice that he had. And again, to simply tell a person you are a racist is
simply catharsis. If he is racist, then he cant be held to blame for that, can he?
Such a thing is instinctual, and isnt a choice. And why shouldnt he be allowed to
discuss the fucked up thoughts he has, especially if it isnt in the public sphere? I
mean, this goes beyond Political Correctness talk, because its not even in fucking
public! This is ridiculous.
It is clear to me that this is horeshit, so I dont see why more people arent
complaining about how these situations are handled. I might disagree with what
someone has said, and its perfectly within the rights of free speech to criticize what
someone else has said, but I dont try to fire them from their job because I dont like
it. I could rant about anti-social justice warriors here, but the real people to blame
are the employers. Why are they not standing up for free speech? Why dont they
say that a persons opinion has nothing to do with how good at their job they are?
Im not convinced its just because they think they will lose profit by not promoting
an affectacious moral faade. You might hear about how a certain person has to
represent a company a certain way, but thats bogus because EVERYONE HAS
FUCKED UP THOUGHTS THAT THEY THINK AND SAY IN PRIVATE! Again, these people
are not out issuing racist public statements, so should they be forced to always be
representing some interest even when having a relaxed casual moment amongst
close friends? Would anyone want to live in a world so boring? And the worst part
is that these people think they are doing a good deed in the name of progress. Its
shit like this that makes me a misanthrope.
So these people basically get branded with a big R for racist. Some of
these people arent even racists, or at least its not obvious that they are. The

Donald Sterling situation was similar to Hulk Hogans. Paula Deen seems even more
extreme, assuming I understand the story correctly. Basically, she just admitted
that she has said nigger in her life. Big deal: nigger, nigger, nigger. Who the fuck
hasnt said the word (nigger) at least once? The only reason your life isnt ruined is
basically similar to the concept of moral luck. Moral luck basically says that we hold
a person more culpable if their consequences hurt someone than if they merely
engaged in the same exact risky actions, but it produced no negative results (at
least to others). For example, if I was driving drunk and slammed my car into a
bush, you wouldnt be as outraged as if some homeless guy was sleeping behind
that bush and I ran him over, though my actions and intentions were the same. So,
one guy suffers a ruined life, and you dont, merely because that persons words ran
into a tape recorder and yours didnt.
Michael Richards is a bit different. A bit worse in some aspects, and a bit not
as bad. He did issue his sentiments in public, that is true, but he was also riled up
by a heckler. Some people have anger issues, and if they get pushed to a certain
point, they will say wild shit. This doesnt even prove that he is a racist. When we
get angry, we just want to use words that will hurt a person. We will call a woman a
cunt, a homosexual a fag, a black person a nigger, we might even bring up
someones traumatic past, such as a dead parent/sibling/offspring. The last one
seems the worst to me, yet there isnt the same taboo that follows along with it.
And these things seem to follow you forever, unnecessarily. What happened
to forgiveness? And I almost feel like talking about forgiveness in a lot of these
cases is a cowardly compromise. But for the statements made in public, maybe an
apology is necessary, but when these are issued, they dont seem to help. Didnt
Mel Gibson apologize and his career still hasnt recovered? Everyone wants to fight
for a better world, so they claim, but in their utilitarian vision they seem to be
willing to step-on individuals, and keep their foot on them, so they dont taint the
progressive gene pool with their dysgenic minds that dont fit the harmonious
uncritical society they want to build. For instance, if you kill all the depressed
people, the world seems a lot happier. Instead of having a discussion with these
people, we go around them, and try to get them fired or ruin their lives and/or
publically shame them. They have to work somewhere dont they? Do you want to
send these people to homeless shelters? What is your aim when you try to ruin
their lives? I just dont get it.
And I do have a self-interest in this problem. Ive preferred to say whatever
was on my mind in public. Ive posted satirical videos with tons of racist, sexist,
homophobic jokes in them. It doesnt mean Im actually a reactionary that doesnt
want to see these people live their lives the way they want to; it just means I get a
kick out of saying fucked up shit, because it makes me feel better about all the
frustrations I have. I could easily erase all my rants, and venting, and artistic
expression in writing and in video I could take it all down before some douchebag
tries to make some strawman point with it, but what would be the joy in hiding all
the time and not letting people see my frustrations with the world and using my
fucked up humor to do it? Would you want to have a conversation with someone
where you knew you had to walk on egg-shells the entire time and you can never

say what you truly want to say? The only progress this is going to make is a
progression straight into hell.
-Greg dratsab Huffman