MiloCast

As always, the subject of profanity is in the news. This time, the city council of New York City is trying to ban the word “bitch.” They have already apparently successfully banned the use of “the N word.” My verdict? They’re being foolish. Banning words is idiotic. Words which were considered naughty a generation ago are nothing now. Those which we use now are still only words. A series of sounds we make with our mouths, or a series of letters we write. They are meaningless without the agreed-upon value we give them.

If we lived in a slightly different world, calling someone a “banana” could be the ultimate insult, inciting racial rioting and murder, and we would go to the grocery store and buy a ripe yellow nigger to put in our Cheerios tomorrow at breakfast. Think about it — the words themselves are nothing. When you ban a word, you do nothing to educate the moron using it offensively — you just change his vocabulary, if that.

How exactly do they enforce this ridiculous law? I picture a full-grown man running into the police station like a four-year-old running to mommy. “Policeman, policeman — that man said ‘bitch’ — I heard him.” Can you imagine saying a word — a freaking word — and the person next to you saying “Ooooh — I’m telling!”

If you don’t like people using certain words, first consider that you’re probably being over-sensitive. I mean, unless a judge in traffic court or your boss or your spouse is attacking you with words you dislike. Ordinary people you don’t care about and who have no power over your life have no ability to hurt you with words unless you choose to accept some validity in their statements. If it’s someone you care about, or someone who has authority over you, then take appropriate action.

Remember, even in America, the land of the free, you don’t have the right not to be offended. If something offends you, banning it is not the answer. Educating the offender is. If someone is watching television with the volume up high while you’re trying to sleep in the next room, do you ban TV? No, you ask them to turn it down because it’s disturbing your rest. Remember — you probably offend people on a regular basis — it’s nearly guaranteed if you drive a car. Do you want to be banned from driving for all the people you pissed off in the last week? I guess all that can be said about this self-righteous bullshit is: “Just grow up, people.”