Andrew Dickens: The industry of offence is in full swing

Andrew Dickens Afternoons

So, it’s about time that more of us put our big girl and boy pants on got over ourselves.
The offence taking industry is in full swing
Israel Falau. Who cares what a boofhead rugby player thinks will happen to gays?
Raelene Castle did, and I suppose that’s her right. But it’s not her right to try and force Israel to change his worldview.
Alan Jones has come out today and talked about freedom of speech being under threat and he’s not wrong. But then again, in the same article he gets all upset because Qantas is threatening to pull its sponsorship. Grow up Alan, it’s their money that can do what they want. You can’t protect Folau’s freedom then attack Qantas’s
Then there was gold medal winner Sam Gaze who took offence that silver medal-winning mate Anton Cooper didn’t wait for him to pump his tyre up. I thought it was hilarious, not offensive, and I understood that a hyped up man boy at the end of the race was letting his adrenaline get to him.
But the world piled in and called him our most ungracious winner ever. Sam then apologised. The only one who came out of the whole thing well was Anton Cooper who was grown up enough to stay schtum.
And finally, Taika Waititi calling New Zealand racist as. Well. of course we are. I’ve lived all over the world and every community I’ve ever lived in has a little bit of racism in it.
But Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner took offence. Then their broadcasting bosses took offence and ordered them to stop talking about it. Again it was only Amanda Gillies who just rolled her eyes at the whole thing that got it right.
I’ve said it many times before. The people who take offence at people who are offended are just as offensive as the offended in the first place.
It’s like we’ve all become snowflakes - all of us, lefties, righties, liberals, conservatives! And if there’s one thing worse than an offended liberal snowflake it’s an outraged conservative snowflake who gets their knickers in a knot over freedom of speech.
Because what their really saying is - I'm free to speak, but I really wish you weren't.
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