A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything.

"Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself."

- Salman Rushdie -

Walking through Waterloo today I stood on an empty sticker sheet. When I turned the sheet over all the missing stickers were speech bubble shaped. I figured that they were probably the evidence of a street art sticker project somewhat like the Ji Lee Bubble Project. But it wasn't. I soon walked past a poster of young Billy Elliot declaring "97 billion on new nuclear weapons? now that's an expenses scandal!" Then a pouty male model on the side of The Tie Stop repeating the same sentiment.

Truth be told, I am really not sure about the validity of this statement, or who is disseminating it, but as I stood there, snapping away with my mobile phone, I realised the immense gift it is that they can say it.

Recently I finished reading Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. Written in 1946 this book is a study on the fear prevalent in dictatorial societies. The protagonists writes postcards denouncing the Nazi party and their policies. He drops them in places with lots of pedestrian traffic all over the city, hoping that people will find them, that his words will plant seeds of doubt, and slowly the tide will turn on the culture of fear. But the fear of these words, and the trepidation of discovery means that none of the card finders really get passed the first line, and immediately hand them to the authorities, thus instantly quelling their subversive nature.

So as I sat there taking in these critical words, that fear no one and only hope to educate, I couldn't help but revel in the luxury of their freedom of speech, and thus my freedom of thought.