These are all variations on the same enterprise. What I want to know is where the idea came from that the ability to communicate entitles one to an audience. Is it just a matter of habit that grows out of the noise humans make being attended to?

Since the freedom to speak apparently requires protection, that seems to suggest that it is not unusual for speech to be perceived as an imposition or unwelcome intrusion, and not just because of the content or meaning of the speech. Certainly, I would have been pleased to shut my mother up for good and, when she took her last breath, it came as a relief. Imagine living sixry four years and hating your mother’s voice. I wonder how that happened.