Lenny Bruce is Not Afraid

Last night I watched a Lenny Bruce Biography on the Sundance Channel. The first obscenely popular comedian, he developed his own style of unabashed social commentary.  Arrested for using the word cocksucker (practically the subtitle of Deadwood), he found himself passionately defending everyone's speech in order to defend his own.

I couldn't help thinking, what would Joi do?  He recently commented on the difficulty of more extreme speech when anything said can be shared outside of context and privacy.  In some cases, this could be viewed as a good thing.  But generally it is harder to share what you really think.

I happen to believe that people do not exercise un-compromised speech unless their right to it and views are challenged.  As such, Joi is more likely to revel against issues like Visas he is regularly confronted with.  In other words, Ghandis arise from extreme conditions and threats, no matter how much we aspire to emulate one.