quote:
Originally posted by roach
I believe it's everybody's democratic right to express an opinion. Freedom of speech is the right of all, even the educated!
mmmmmmmmmm…..Educated??? Free Speech???
Does being educated and living in a country with free speech give one the right to be insensitive? To offend others?
Not to your Taste, Steve Irwin??..... Couldn’t quite keep that to yourself, particularly at this time of grieving for many, but in particular his family, a young wife who has lost a husband and a father to her children, and two young innocent children who want to know when Daddy is coming home? This is what some of the people here are upset about, that someone is prepared to put their own ego’s needs ahead of a tragedy for a young family!!!!
You couldn’t quite help yourself, you had to put your own ego ahead of other peoples need to express their empathy with Steve’s bereaved family, and who are also feeling some of their own sadness and grief about what has happened. In a sense it brings us all closer to our own mortality and what it will mean for our own loved one’s.
Hey, maybe you just made an innocent error originally with the sunscreen joke, you could quickly and easily have apologised, we all make mistakes, I make many every day (too many!!)…..but no…… the ego needed to defend and justify the indefensible?
Well I guess freedom of speech works both ways, and now people are freely expressing themselves in response to your freedom of speech.
I’m particularly fascinated by this education issue (an obvious attempt at justification?)……..,it is very interesting to me, does it mean that if you are an intellectual you have to denigrate what Steve Irwin was doing……… Not enough IQ in what Steve was doing? Not high brow enough, too many “crickey’s” in his speech…………. Never mind he had an ability to communicate and connect with a majority of Australians and people around the world…. That doesn’t count I suppose, he was too theatrical and simplistic for some I guess?
I’m particularly fascinated by your imputation that if one is educated, one will not appreciate what he did, and also see through the showmanship, and see what he did as a shallow exploitation of animals and nature to make copious amounts of money?? Is that a personal opinion or a the truth of the universe?
Being educated myself I would like to strongly disagree with your analysis of Steve Irwin’s behaviour and motivations. I have a university degree (Big deal), and 2 post-graduate university degrees (Even lesser big deal),….. and “By Crickey I loved him!!!!!!!!” My wife has 4 university degrees (She makes no big deal of hers either) and she loved him too!!!! How does that work?? Maybe we didn’t judge him through a negative prism of distorted perception, maybe we just accepted him for what he was, maybe IQ isn’t as important as EQ, maybe EQ is more valuable than IQ??? I wonder??? That’s what’s been expressed here, emotional intelligence, empathy and connection with the sadness and loss.
Long live freedom of speech, though when used irresponsibly, always has some negative consequences.
In time, when emotions have subsided, it may be appropriate to analyse the whole Steve Irwin phenomenon, I would also like to debate one or two issues about what he did, but not yet, it’s too early!!!
The rare but serious hardie
