Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words will never hurt me.- Traditional
Silly bitch, your weapons cannot harm me!
Everyone keeps dithering over precisely how much we should condemn a girl for babbling something racist on YouTube. But what she did is, in a strange way, actually good for her as a person: this is a great opportunity for her to examine her views and decide whether or not she wants to change them, while she’s still young.
On the whole, it’s hardly a meritorious act, but how many skinheads wind up with a criminal record, or have to see friends die, before they ever reconsider their hatred? She’s getting this chance rather cheaply. That she can do so is itself one of the merits of a tolerant society.
