Free Speech

For the purposes of this thread "Free Speech" and "Freedom of Speech" are synonymous.

When does criticism become harassment?
When does harassment become hate speech?
When does hate speech become incitement?
When does incitement become conspiracy to commit a crime?

When do thoughts become intentions, when does thoughtcrime become crime?

And to "Free Speech Fundamentalists", what about slander? Libel? Yelling "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater?

What can be censored and what can be considered "censorship"?

Under what conditions, if any, is it okay to silence somebody?

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Horseshoe theory is real. People on the far-left and those on the far-right are indistinguishable in their love of censorship and hatred of anything that goes against their narrative. The difference is that the far-left has become mainstream for some bizarre reason.

Can you give me examples of Communism?

It's really annoying when people treat horseshoe theory like a centrist cop-out.

"Lol, these two polar opposite political ideologies are EXACTLY THE SAME".

They share authoritarianism. That's the defining similarity.

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Pretty substantial similarity when the most notable accusation they throw at each other is that they are authoritarian.

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The trick is there are many ways to oppress, but not so many ways to be free. Not without messing around with Anarcho-Communism/Capitalism and whatnot.

I don't mean communism per se, the terms "left" and "right" have become muddled and different people mean different things when they use them. In this context, I'm referring to the social justice obsessed crowd that has hijacked liberalism and transformed it into something embarrassing. For the right, I mean the religious right that wanted to censor everything under the sun back in the day. But now, social justice loonies have taken up the mantle of deciding what is acceptable and what isn't. I mean, god forbid we see someone's panties in a video game, it'll teach impressionable boys to hate women or something.

I often get the impression that this is how people see me:

I've gotten that.

So Amos Yee, after being jailed in Singapore for "wounding religious feelings" (he mocked Christianity and Islam), has been granted asylum by the US.

And now because decriers think this means the US endorses and protects hate speech, someone's filed an appeal and he is in jail again.

Bravo.

I'll just leave this here:



And, as Noam Chomsky once said,

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

Popular opinions or even moderate opinions do not need to be protect by the tenets of 'free speech'. Such opinions are already protected by state power and institutions. Freedom is speech is there for views and opinions we do not like. And, by we, states, their institutions and other collective entities. And, by not like, not merely views that spark some discord or debate, but views that are actively and concertedly trying to be censored because they are so unpopular.

This is why the current institutional climate of universities are in such disarray. Universities should be a space of intellectual combat and assiduous inquiry and freedom of thought, not discursively monitored spaces that have a spectrum of tolerance.

I attend a somewhat elitist university, and the spectrum of dissenting viewpoints is ridiculous. People can hand out flyers actively supporting the assassination or impeachment of Donald Trump, yet anything that even remotely supports his policies are censored and attacked. Now, I hate Trump. I find him to be abhorrent. Yet I find it very disconcerting that people who do support him can not publicly show it in an university environment. Thus, I find myself supporting the rights of those to propound their views as opposed to being part of a group that, yes, I share a fundamental philosophical agreement with, but completely detest the way they conduct themselves in public spaces. It is authoritarian.

While I don't much care for either of those quotes (especially Voltaire's, I don't think sacrificing my life so Milo can **** talk on stage is an especially wise use of my life), I think it was well said. A frustrating amount of people seem oblivious to the situation on college campuses.

Welcome to Scotland. You are under arrest for parody.