The right to yell 'FIRE!' in a theater

In almost any rant calculated to justify a government violation of some natural human right (especially those mentioned in the Bill of Rights), usually specifically the right to own and to carry weapons, someone will invariably bring up the old lie that “you can’t yell ‘FIRE!’ in a theater”.

Well, yes, you can.

The tyranny-enabling statement gets it wrong on so many levels.

It is your absolute human right to do say whatever you want to say. It may not be wise, and in a free society you will be held accountable for any harm you cause by doing so, of course.

The actual statement asserts you have no right to FALSELY yell “FIRE!”, but almost everyone misses that distinction, either through ignorance or by design, and it is still wrong anyway.

Then there is the misunderstanding of where rights come from. I’ll give you a hint: they don’t come from government or any of its documents. The Bill of Rights doesn’t give us any rights at all. In fact, it doesn’t even apply to you or me at all unless we work for government. And for those to whom it does apply, its entire purpose is to stop them from violating the rights of others.

What the Bill of Rights DOES do is prohibit government from enacting “laws” that restrict (violate) certain rights (think of it as a “government shall not…” list). Since the First Amendment protects ALL speech from government regulation or control, it also protects the right to say things that can be destructive or stupid. That doesn’t mean doing so is right — it usually is not — but government can have no legitimate say in the matter. What government can do (if anything), or what a private arbitrator should do, after the fact, is hold the speaker accountable for any harm his act caused.

The best thing is that the Bill of Rights could be repealed tomorrow and it wouldn’t diminish anyone’s rights at all. It might make it slightly easier for government to get away with violating those rights by restricting liberty. Or not. We may get a chance to see.

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