Safe Spaces for All

He ain’t wrong he’s just different.

—Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys

Written by Ed Bruce in 1975 and popularized by Willie Nelson

I think I finally understand safe spaces. The world is going so fast and there are so many people who criticize you for doing or thinking differently that you want a space where it’s OK just to be you. We also want a safe space from worrying about thousands of laws that can affect anyone at any time even if we don’t know they exist.

For individuals, we are less and less tolerant of people who think and act differently. A new study shows that more and more people are afraid to say what they think, in fact, 9 in 10 people felt “emotionally or physically unsafe to speak their mind in the past 18 months.” Too many rules coming at us too fast creates fear and anxiety. Shouldn’t we make America a safe space by having less rules for what people do and think? 

In fact, how can a democracy work if people are even afraid to discuss the issues?

How about giving everyone a safe space to speak their mind? If you don’t like what people say on Fox or MSNBC, you simply don’t tune them in. In effect, the choice of channels is a safe space. If you don’t like either, or all news for that matter, you don’t have to listen to any of it.

Read the full piece on Substack here.