By KEVIN KAUMANS
I was sitting in my bed, pondering what I should write about for my first week back at Northwestern for my second semester of my junior year. Now, I am by no means saying that being a columnist is the hardest job in the world.
I mean, I don’t speak from experience, but I doubt I would want to switch places with a child coal miner in the Middle East.
But when you constantly have to come up with a minimum of two new articles every week, on top of still having to do your homework for your classes, it can easily become stressful.
That is where my idea for this week’s main title comes in; As many of you already know, fellow reader, I’m an English literature major.
In a few of my classes, we often discuss the ethics of free speech. The main flaw against it is that, if anyone can write about whatever they feel like, that means anyone with a computer can publish their “works.”
This may sound a little cruel, but do you ever feel like there are people out there who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a writing utensil. Think about it: How many books have you read over the years that made you think, “Who in God’s name gave the greenlight for this to be published?”
Self-publishing has only made it to where something like this is doomed to happen more often. Some of you may think I’m being a hypocrite here, seeing as how my own books were published through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
However, understand that I am saying this because I myself remember how many flaws my first book had. Maybe I’m being too harsh on myself; no one’s first work is perfect after all.
But when you are a young man seeing how many grammatical errors, weird jump cuts, and poor worldbuilding are in your novel, it is easy to feel like the worst author in the world.
The point is: If an ignorant 17-year-old can easily release his poorly edited work of art out into the world, what is stopping Greg the Flat-Earther from publishing his 800-page essay on why everyone else is dumb and he is the next Sir Isaac Newton?
What is stopping Bethenny the Repressed Cat Lady from writing her spicy romance novel with the most depraved “love scenes” known to man?
What is stopping your local neighborhood sex offender from writing a book about a man who….you get where I’m going with this.
I get it, truly. If we start censoring people because they are bad writers, what is stopping us or the authors I love from getting the same treatment?
To be honest, this argument is the only thing preventing me from solely supporting the idea that some people shouldn’t be allowed to write. Because even if someone’s work is hateful, ignorant or arguably worse of all, badly written, that’s still their right to publish out into the world.
Let us say, for example, you write an essay on race. You do not include anything hateful, just factual. If we start censoring people on what they write, who is to say your essay will not get flagged or banned for “hate speech” or something similar?
I would rather have a hundred Amanda McKittrick Roses running amuck in the literacy world as long as it allows for the next Tolkien to shine in the world.
Is it so wrong to risk letting the degenerates near a laptop if it allows genuises the same thing?
I want to live in a world where my descendants all have an equal chance of success. I want to live in a world where all humans have a chance to create art.
Perhaps that is a philosophy we should all live by….or maybe I’m just being a literacy snob, whichever answer you like better.