Despite the keepers of the morals (on both the left AND the right) guilt tripping Milo supporters like myself to turn from him, I simply won't. Why? Because America more than ever NEEDS a free speaker like him to raise discussion, challenge accepted norms, and inspire more critical thinking. I only even agree with roughly 60% of his points/remarks over the years, but that's not the point.. The point is he is the true representative of one of my most cherished values in America, which is free speech. What most of my fellow liberals (at least the more Authoritarian ones), don't seem to realize is free speech applies to ALL, and that includes those who tend to talk conservative and libertarian points as well. If you always agreed with the content of the free speech, kinda ruins the point doesn't it?
The problem is, when you play the free speech angle in public as free and loose as Milo does, and with how much he runs his mouth and tries to provoke people and tap into certain taboos, you'll almost inevitably say something that will come back to haunt you as a result of the sensationalist media who seeks cheap hits. The guy has done THOUSANDS of interviews blabbering away, so it was inevitable he was going to say a few insanely idotic things the media would throw against him when they felt the timing convenient to try and bring him down. The sexual abuse comments on the Rogan podcast were insane and idiotic, but he's since gone back and apologized for them, stating that in fact he was abused, and that one way he copes with it is to laugh/shrug it off and to claim that these tramatic events shouldn't define you. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.. Were some of his statements on the podcast poorly worded, controversial, ridiculous insensitive? Of course. But that shouldn't negate the many other intelligent points he's raised over the months and years. And he's since made it clear he not only CONDEMNS pedophilia; not only is HE in fact a victim of it, but he has even turned in a few abusers himself.. What more do people need? But sadly there will always be a certain contingent of people who are easily swept up by media sensationalism that clings to a few dumb statements, incapable of critical thinking.
At the end of the day, the things he says are just words. They're just words. They are harmless.
What IS harmful is people, and their actions, as well as their ill intent BEHIND the words they use. I don't see any ill intent with Milo. I see a man trying to remind America that free speech is vital to civilized society, that words (even controversial ones) can open debate and ultimately prove to be positive. Sure he's a bit of an instagator, a provocateur who perhaps goes to far at times, but we NEED a few of those in our society to get people's attention and open up the discussion. If you want to see how societies function when free speech is suppressed or non-existant, I ask you (as a graduate of history) look at Nazi Germany under Hitler, communist China under Mao, Communist Russia under Stalin. Look at North Korea. Look at many countries in the Middle East. Look at Fascist Italy under Musilini, and ancient Rome under Sulla. The list goes on..
"We hold these truths to be self-evident - all men and women created by the, go-you know.. you know the thing!" - Joe Biden
