Billy Corgan, of the Smashing Pumpkins, laments the fact he can’t say a certain word without becoming unpopular, which is the result of social justice groups shutting down free speech.
“It’s pretty remarkable that I could say one word right now that would destroy my career,” he said, as the screen displayed images of Michael Richards and Paula Deen, both of whom faced derision after using the N-word. “I could use the wrong racial epithet or say the wrong thing to you or look down at the wrong part of your body and be castigated and it’s a meme and I’m a horrible person. Every day through the media, through advertising, we see people being degraded, we see people doing all sorts of things that we should be horrified at as a culture. So we’ve normalized all sorts of things, but we live in a world where one word could destroy your life but it’s OK to, if you’re a social-justice warrior, spit in somebody’s face.”
Yet, he says, such groups “don’t have power.” The epiphany: always hovering just out of view. Good luck sticking to the right racial epithets, Billy.