European Censorship, Howard Stern, and More Political Pensiveness

I'm missing the blog that I keep when I'm in the States, so get ready. It's about to get political up in here. 


There is something that all Europe-dwellers must deal with on a daily basis that I love and loath simultaneously. If you have ever spent any significant amount of time on this side of the Atlantic, you have undoubtedly encountered the lack of censorship that Western European nations enforce. Allow me to illustrate what I'm talking about using some situations that I have encountered...


Imagine you're at a supermarket in the United States. Cee Lo Green's most popular song is playing in the background but you notice that the lyrics have been changed. Instead of being in full, F-bomb dropping form, its chorus is now "Forget you." Not so in Europe. Here, the F-bomb would explode all over the produce section, blasting through the hairy ears of the elderly and little ears of the young. What say you of this? Which situation is better? 


You're walking through a Beatles exhibition when, right in front of you, in a large photograph, John Lennon and Yoko Ono are standing completely naked. The exhibition has no age restrictions and has given no prior warning about the full frontal nudity contained in the picture. 


You plan to have a pleasant day at the beach with your family. As you begin to trudge through the sand looking for a place to set up camp, you notice that almost everyone at the beach is completely nude. 


I don't think that these things would ever fly in the United States but, in my opinion, they should be able to. 


First of all, let me say that I do not like profanity. I don't like hearing it and I don't like using it. I'm not morally opposed to it (there is nothing innately offensive about curse words) but I do believe that it is trashy and people, especially women, who curse do so at the expense of their own image. 


Secondly, during my time abroad,  I have seen more naked people than I had ever seen in my life previously (and definitely more than I ever cared to). I do not believe that there is anything wrong with nudity as long as it is not sexual. We are all created anatomically similar and, if you are comfortable enough in your own skin to go free willy, more power to you. The problem lies in society's sexualization of the human form. Unfortunately, it's difficult in today's world to be nude without being seen as an object. 


I love the lack of censorship here because it allows freedom of expression. I hate it because of the things that children are constantly exposed to and, because of the increased secularization of Europe, they are not taught where to draw certain lines. 


That said, I do not believe that governmentally-enforced censorship should exist in the US. It negates one of the fundamental rights found in the Constitution. The First Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...


The FCC and other such bureaucratic creations contradict this right. It is NOT the government's job to regulate what private enterprises and people can/cannot do, say, or write. I believe that, in a capitalistic society, the thought of losing money would motivate private businesses (particular in the media) to remain somewhat censored without any government intervention. For instance, if NBC started allowing extremely explicit content in all of their shows, they would most likely lose viewers and, in turn, they would lose advertising dollars.  The thought of this would scare companies away from becoming too inappropriate (but, then again, what is appropriate for some is not appropriate for others. Where do we draw that line?). 


I do not agree with many things that come out of Howard Stern's mouth and, frankly, the man repulses me. But the shock-jock has the right to say whatever he wants because that is a privilege that all of us share as Americans. The Left and the Right are both guilty of picking and choosing what the government should censor. The Left prefers to suppress certain religious and political expressions while the Right attempts to restrict what can be transmitted through the media in an effort to maintain "traditional American values". Neither should be so. The only entity with the right to suppress freedom of expression is the individual. 


If you do not apply the First Amendment of the Constitution to every American citizen, business, and situation, you might as well throw the entire Constitution into the garbage. 


French writer and philosopher Voltaire famously said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."


I hate to admit it, but the Europeans got this one right. What do you guys think about the issue of censorship, both in Europe and the US? 


~Britt