i was talking to a friend of mine another day, and after being complemented for always speaking my mind in social networking posts my friend commented how she wished she could comment on those posts. why don’t you, i asked, and to my dismay my friend said that she was afraid to speak her mind because of conceivable implications that would cause. you see, she said, most of my friends are really liberal and many of them are also my clients, so i am afraid they would stop doing business with me if i spoke my mind. but you are not a radical righty, i said, you and i are of the libertarian philosophy. well, unless you agree with the left, you’re a radical, she submitted. so, she carries on posting benign little things like ‘having my morning coffee’.

i want to ask a simple, albeit redundant, question – is this still the United States of America? or, is it maybe United States of Iran??  If we still have the freedom of speech, we have the responsibility to speak frankly no matter the consequences. We must not be afraid to engage in debates with our friends whose beliefs are counter to those of ours. For if we are afraid to speak honestly in fear of losing friends (clients), we deserve to lose them. If people judge you by your political inclinations rather than your character traits and personality, you will be better off without them. We must not let anyone limit us. Goodness inside is what’s paramount, not the party affiliation. Dig it!