In this country, people are allowed to be morons.

In this country, people are allowed to be morons.

Mark Cuban continues to be front and center in thought and leadership, both in the NBA, as well as the civic and legal arenas, this time weighing in on the Donald Sterling fiasco.

What Donald said was wrong. It was abhorrent. There’s no place for racism in the NBA, any business I’m associated with, and I don’t want to be associated with people who have that position.

But at the same time, that’s a decision I make. I think you’ve got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It’s a very, very slippery slope.

Again, there’s no excuse for his positions. There’s no excuse for what he said. There’s no excuse for anybody to support racism. There’s no place for it in our league, but there’s a very, very, very slippery slope.

If it’s about racism and we’re ready to kick people out of the league, OK? Then what about homophobia? What about somebody who doesn’t like a particular religion. What about somebody who’s anti-semitic What about a xenophobe?

In this country, people are allowed to be morons.

This brings us again to the point of acceptance, and begs the question of what tolerance truly is? Should Sterling’s racist comments be tolerated? No. And yet, what is the punishment for someone having a closed mind, or negative thoughts? This is a line that should never be drawn. Actions are, and should be punishable. Has Sterling taken discriminatory actions in the past? Yes. Has he been punished for them? Yes, and he should be, each and every time.

The real danger would be to bring together an omnipotent thought and culture police who would tear down any and all thinking which does not jibe with the cultural and societal norm of the day. This would of course lead to the inevitable and undesirable reality where people are no longer allowed to have opinions or beliefs at all (right or wrong) just one officially enforced opinion.

Returning to the micro level again, I suspect Sterling is on his way out, but should not be forced out by the league, but rather by the players (his employees), the fans, and the corporate sponsors. If the players stop playing, if the fans stop coming, and buying merchandise, and the sponsor stop paying him to run ads, then the people who have voted this man into power for so long with their blood, sweat, tears, and money, will have very quickly, and effectively – and in no uncertain terms – made it clear that remaining owner of the Clippers is a losing proposition, universally across the board.

As the power of free will and individual liberty allows for people to say stupid things, so does it provide for people to react appropriately and accordingly.