From the Vox:
Many American pundits seem to firmly believe that the country stands at a precipice in which young, left-wing college students and recent graduates are the leading edge of a rising tide of illiberalism that comes in the form of “political correctness” and poses a clear and present danger to free speech and rational discourse.
[...] The alarm about student protesters, in other words, though not always mistaken about particular cases, is generally grounded in a completely mistaken view of the big-picture state of American society and public opinion, both on and off campus.
[...] Since the 1970s, the General Social Survey has posed a question about whether five hypothetical speakers should be allowed to give a speech in your community — a communist, a homosexual, an opponent of all religion, a racist, and a person who favors replacing the elected government with a military coup.
Justin Murphy of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom aggregated trend data about all five kinds of speakers and found that public support for free expression has been generally rising
(Score: 4, Funny) by mrpg on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:04PM (1 child)
#freearistarchus!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @08:08AM
Ah, good. I wasn't planning to spend any money on him anyway.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:06PM (19 children)
Nothing is happening, everything is fine, be on your business citizen.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:23PM (14 children)
The 2nd Amendment guarantees that for the entire Planet.
Unlike the empires of yore, the United States will endure for many more millennia, for the simple fact that the common folk of America could make the insurgency in Iraq or Afghanistan or Vietnam (or wherever) look like a child's game.
And, hanging on for dear life to the coat-tails of Uncle Sam, the rest of the world will continue to be dragged kicking and screaming into a world of ever-greater respect for the rights of the individual, chief of which are the rights of each individual to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (i.e., the Pursuit of Self-Interest).
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:53PM
...found the optimist. Sigh.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 25 2018, @10:21PM (1 child)
I don't share your optimism.
(Score: 5, Funny) by driverless on Monday March 26 2018, @03:07AM
I don't share my optimism either. Get some of your own, ya greedy bugger.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Kell on Monday March 26 2018, @12:23AM
Wait... so random Americans having guns means the rest of the world is safe? Riiiiight. I think you grotesquely overestimate the influence of the United States. Afterall there are plenty of examples of regimes that have been running for decades that have completely ignored principles of American liberty while trampling the rights of individuals. Sorry, America - most of the world doesn't care two shits what your citizens do. In fact, the only real sway they have is what their military adventurism and nuclear armageddon gives them. And that is really proving the exact opposite point: the action of the individual against the central government is meaningless; only the central government has the resources to affect the policies of nations elsewhere around the globe.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Mykl on Monday March 26 2018, @03:01AM (4 children)
You sure as shit did nothing when the TSA moved into town. Or when your police forces started buying military equipment. Or when the NSA was shown to run a surveillance operation that even George Orwell would be horrified by.
Nope - as long as you can drive your pickup truck down to the KFC to get a bucket of chicken to eat while watching Monday night Wrestling, you ain't gonna do nothin'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @03:54AM (1 child)
Yup. Look about right.
(Score: 2) by srobert on Monday March 26 2018, @05:37PM
Take a good look at that handwritten Preamble. It actually says "Purfuit of Happinefs".
But then again a good look at Cap'n Crunch reveals that his eyebrows are on his hat.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bobthecimmerian on Monday March 26 2018, @04:24PM (1 child)
Militarized police, NSA surveillance, and the TSA are only bad when a Democrat is president.
US politics, just like anywhere else, is more complicated than simple tribalism. But at it's heart I would say tribalism is killing us. And my impression - as a member of neither party - is that the Republicans are worse because within their main factions (which I would call 'mainstream' and 'Tea Party') dissenting with the leaders is savagely condemned. The Democrats, for all of their many, many problems, don't have the same problem to the same decree. Granted, the Democrat lack of fanatical unity is probably why they lost power from 2010 to present.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 27 2018, @02:33AM
yes, the reason people don't do nothin' is because they are brainwashed into thinking things are still relatively ok. these people think funding the IRS helps the nation and it's people and overall those funds are used for good. the rest are sell outs who just want their 30 pieces of silver. if the brainwashed patriotic types could be woken up they would get off their asses. they are deeply brainwashed though. these are the morons who think passing concealed carry permit laws gives them more gun rights when the whole thing is an obvious ploy to turn a right into a privilege. it's all pretty depressing. just look at this fosta bill BS. two fucking americans. the rest are scum, or stupid as shit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @07:49AM
I don't think the current view of the second amendment allows for nearly the kind of weapons (AK47's and RPG's) that the insurgents of those countries like to use.
Meanwhile, when we want to stop insurgents with those kinds of weapons, we send a tiny fraction of the US military. Now imagine using hand guns rather than AK47's and RPG's against the entire US military...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @08:02AM (2 children)
So how will your guns help against something like this? [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @09:08AM
That is the real question.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 26 2018, @03:41PM
Why defend against them when you can use them instead? Overpriced and can used by the insurgency. What's not to love?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @02:25PM
Yeah right. You could have a pile of guns in every backyard but it won't do any good as long as Americans are completely fooled by even the tiniest bit of flimsy propaganda. You're a standing army of morons ready to ruin not defend.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:24PM (3 children)
Ah yes more misunderstanding. Corporate America is what you're actually afraid of. The wave of young liberals are not the enemies you imagine, and actually as far as freedom of expression are actually your allies.
But go ahead, keep pushing your conservative version of "literally Hitler".
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Sunday March 25 2018, @11:17PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @04:48AM
Heeey, a decent joke with no partisan sniping. You must've gone to church today ;P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @08:00PM
The wave of young liberals are not new. Kids are known to rebel. How do you rebel when your parents are conservative? You run to become liberal. What if your parents are 60's and 70's era free love hippies? You become conservative. The new-wave liberals are no different. Many will grow up and realize a lot of what they did was silly. Many of the ones who keep it up will raise kids who will go against their liberal parents. It is all a cycle.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:16PM (13 children)
College students have traditionally been left-wing, but the people leaving high school now have taken a hard turn to the right.
Suppose you want to be anti-establishment. You want to be a bit of a rebel. This isn't the 1960s or 1970s anymore. Being a communist in an American educational environment would just align you with old teachers/professors/lecturers. In 2018, you'll need to be alt-right to piss off people like aristarchus.
The establishment is however, violently anti-speech. It's a threat to them. They'll get a few groveling toadies in the younger crowd of course, but that's just trying to hold back the tide.
(Score: 3, Touché) by realDonaldTrump on Monday March 26 2018, @12:52AM (2 children)
The Establishment and special interests are absolutely killing our country. We must put #AmericaFirst [twitter.com].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Monday March 26 2018, @06:51AM (1 child)
Except that, in the real world, Trump is the Establishment and special interest now...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @05:07PM
#TrumpFirst
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday March 26 2018, @02:15AM (9 children)
College students have traditionally been left-wing, but the people leaving high school now have taken a hard turn to the right.
They have?
The recent anti-gun demonstrations led by high school students seems to indicate that that generation is not at all hard-right. I think there's a healthy number of right-wingers in that age group, just because high school kids tend to follow their parents and the right-wingers are the ones having more kids (the urban liberals are having few or none), though kids frequently change their political orientation once they get to college and spend at least a couple years there.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DeVilla on Monday March 26 2018, @03:17AM (8 children)
This kind of irks me.
My kids said they were told they could go outside for 17 minutes ... or they could sit in class for a few moments of silence. Most kids took the "get-out-of-class" card. A few said they didn't want to be part of an "anti-gun" protest. They were told it wasn't "anti-gun", but rather it was to honor the students who died. The next day I hear one of my Senators going on about how our kids have show they want her to push for more gun regulations.
I don't even want to address the gun debate with this. I wish people would not us my kids as political pawns.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday March 26 2018, @04:06AM (1 child)
Yeah, really. These "protests" are inorganic contrived Soros-funded corporate super-planned and organized bullshit just like the pussy-hat stuff.
My guess why younger students are being emphasized this time around is because the establishment have learned from the election that adults young and old are capable of finding no-bullshit news sources and deciding for themselves what to believe rather than resort to letting manufactured realities guide their decisions.
Younger kids are, too, but Soros' organizations don't know it yet. Surely younger kids are aware of their carefully-chosen spokespeople who are basically crisis actors or otherwise spotlight-hungry weenies seeking to gain from the tragic murder of students. The ones who even acknowledge the event do so for virtue-signal points but if they can get out of school and have a shot at all that good pussy, then they'll say whatever their teachers want to hear.
As a high-schooler I was pro-gun but you bet your ass I would have taken any opportunity to ditch school, especially when there were opportunities for socializing and pussy-chasing. You all will hate me for admitting this, but I even went to a funeral of somebody I didn't know (never talked to them or knew any of their friends and family) just to get out of school.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @06:17AM
Hating you for that would require being shocked you would do such a thing.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @05:50AM (2 children)
It beats using your kids for target practice... which is kind of the point.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @10:58AM
Some kids, maybe.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 26 2018, @03:46PM
So schools are going to start shooting kids, if their demands aren't met?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 26 2018, @10:56AM
I doubt it will make you feel much better, but the kids aren't pawns. They are merely props. Align all the props on a stage, some high muckity muck takes advantage of the photoop, then the kids are sent back to class - out of sight, and out of mind.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Monday March 26 2018, @03:17PM
I wasn't talking about the 17 minute thing at schools, I was talking about the protests on Saturday in cities across the country. There's no school on Saturday.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 27 2018, @02:54AM
don't allow it, ffs! think of the godfather when he slaps that sniveling one. be a man!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:18PM (2 children)
Reality is not politically correct and the group think discredits only those who require free speech protection. The method of attack is to construct a slanderous straw man and engage in ad-hominem using 'ism' and 'phobe' suffix labelling which is then used as a pretext for "deplatforming". [areomagazine.com] Let's not think at this point we can stop the far-left from completely denying reality or engaging in sociopathic logic where deplatforming people for views and opinions they do not even hold is a form of tolerance in the face of intolerance.
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:27PM (1 child)
You should realize you're swallowing some propaganda right? Right??
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:40PM
Sure [youtube.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:24PM (2 children)
"a communist, a homosexual, an opponent of all religion, a racist, and a person who favors replacing the elected government with a military coup"
Sure, now a communist, a homosexual and opponent of religion and coupist gets to speak. That's 4/5 compared to the 1/5 of the olden days, but now that everyone else not in those 4/5 groups is a racist, how does the math go again? From one extreme to another, and how do the extremes work in reality?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Bot on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:02PM
> From one extreme to another
You of course recall that the above movement, repeated, is most efficient if you want to break things.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2, Funny) by fustakrakich on Monday March 26 2018, @03:37AM
"a communist, a homosexual, an opponent of all religion, a racist, and a person who favors replacing the elected government with a military coup"...
how do the extremes work in reality?
Who the hell knows?... I just wish somebody would finish the joke
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 5, Insightful) by arcz on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:34PM (41 children)
This article claims that support for free speech is rising. But the data suggests otherwise. It clearly shows that liberals, other than extreme liberals, have become less tolerant of "racist" speech.
What's more, the article conveniently omits 2016/2017 data for the category of "racist speech". It's clear that political correctness has become standard at universities because the students are not the ones in control of the policies. The teachers, administration, and faculty are overwhelmingly liberal and they are the ones that set the policies. Hence, the conclusion, that colleges are losing support for free speech, is correct.
Free speech is not free speech on some topics but not others: whatever topic receives the lowest approval rating is the correct indicator of the portion of people who actually support free speech. Hence, we can see free speech support is declining in liberals.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:06PM (34 children)
This is rather idiotic. There had never been nor should there ever be anything requiring people to tolerate intolerance.
This whole idea that this is somehow a leftwing phenomenon is ridiculous. Or was it the left that banned the cdc from studying gun violence and barred the teaching of sex ed?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:14PM
Evidently arcz's facility with data equals his understanding of the law. Either that, or he is a racist.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @10:38PM (6 children)
"There had never been nor should there ever be anything requiring people to tolerate intolerance."
-
Why don't you go out to the far west, sit your arrogant little ass down in a cowboy bar and tell all the locals how you are not going to tolerate their attitudes.
The lesson you get shortly afterward should stay with you for a lifetime.
(Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @10:49PM (4 children)
You mean Brownback's Brokeback Mountain Saloon in Kansas? Those fey cowboy Republicans!
(Score: 1, Redundant) by Arik on Sunday March 25 2018, @10:57PM (3 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @11:22PM
Brownback's Kansas is a real place. And I am pretty sure all Kansas Cowboys are a little queer, at least. The Wheat farmers are quite strange just by their selves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @11:59AM (1 child)
No familiarity with Annie Proulx's short story that was the basis for the movie, I take it? Ah, Wyoming!
(Score: 2) by Arik on Monday March 26 2018, @12:33PM
It means it's fiction.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @06:38PM
This is nothing how america is. Truth is I could hang out with a bunch of cowboys at a bad, have a debate of some sort and most of them would be ok with black people and at least ok with gays as long as they don't have to watch them make out.
I know this is not the impression you get from hollywood movies and whatever little else a poor guy in the middle of eastern europe knows about the USA
(Score: 5, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday March 25 2018, @11:29PM (15 children)
Except, of course, for the belief in tolerance which by itself requires such tolerance. Then again, you're just one hypocrite in a large ocean of them.
People won't be perfect and it's time to stop being part of the problem. Stop hating others because they don't meet nor will meet your ideals.
To give an example, I'd rather have my life saved by a neo-Nazi paramedic than die in the street. Even those with "intolerance" can make useful contributions to society - it's time to get out of their way. Let's stop with the 1984 bullshit, the thoughtcrime and two minute hates. We already have figured out how to live with people with different viewpoints. It's time you learned about that.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @03:13AM (14 children)
Would you rather die in the street if it was a black, gay, feminist aid giver?
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Monday March 26 2018, @03:30AM (13 children)
I'm sure if I thought about it, I could come up with a really big list of people whom I wouldn't mind saving my ass.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @06:30AM (4 children)
I've only seen jmorris and vlm stray into the occasional goose step, don't apply guilt by association. If you got sources though dot dot dot
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 26 2018, @04:06PM (3 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @05:25PM (2 children)
Oh khallow, the more I see you reply to posts after misunderstanding their points the more I take pity on you. You're trying so that's good.
I was saying you AREN'T a low fat nazi and invited proof that I am wrong, you sourced yourself kinda saying you're not.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 26 2018, @10:49PM (1 child)
Sounds like everyone's happy. I'm moving on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @10:17AM
Good choice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @10:19AM (7 children)
True story. I knew someone who was in a concentration camp in WWII. In France, a Frentstalag, not a death camp, but that is not the point here. When they were being "liberated" by the Allies, quite a lot of casualties occcured, and the inmates of the camp did what they could to provide medical care to all who needed it. The person I knew was blood type matched to a young Nazi, and so hooked up for a transfusion to save his life. Unfortunately, the NaziJunger regained consciousness, looked at the transfusion line, followed it to his donor, and asked her, "Are you a Jew?" She said yes, that was why she was there in the first place. The young soldier ripped the IV out of his arm. He died.
Years later, many years later, this woman kept asking herself, "Maybe I should have lied, to save this young man's life?" Having known her, and the torment this question caused her, I now say, "Punch a Nazi in the face, before we get to situations like this. Yes, punch a Nazi in the face. More than once, if necessary." Better than some ignorant 17 year old dying out of hatred and racism, and loading it on some only slightly older girl. These alt-right idiots have no idea what they are playing with.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 26 2018, @04:00PM
How utterly stupid. I guess you never knew that there was a lot of Nazi face-punching in the 1930s. As you can see, it really helped the Nazis to become more humane and humble in the death camps.
Maybe it's time for you to be something other than an enabler of hate and violence upon which violent groups like the Nazis thrive? What say you?
Back at you.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday March 26 2018, @05:22PM (5 children)
Wow. I was half-expecting the conclusion of this story to actually have a useful lesson.
Obviously opposing Naziism is a good idea. But punching random Nazis you meet in the street isn't going to solve anything. Worst-case, you actually reinforce their belief system.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 26 2018, @07:51PM (4 children)
You have to admit, Dick Spencer isn't making a whole lotta noise these days...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday March 26 2018, @08:33PM (1 child)
Not surprised to see you coming down on this side of the argument. You do so enjoy shouting at people and calling them names.
Not really sure how much Mr. Spencer is actually getting done, but he's been in the news for people cancelling his speech dates recently, so he's at least getting publicity. No such thing as bad publicity, right? Especially when we're talking about the Neo-Nazi crowd, which I'm sure are experts at tuning out criticism.
From a quick search looks like he *has* been punched in the face. Hmm.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 26 2018, @09:01PM
Look, tango, about 18 months ago i decided i'm not going to be a "nice girl" any longer. Never in my life has being a "nice girl" ever, ever gotten me anywhere. Know what did? Take the bullying problem i had in elementary school. Know what stopped it? When, about a month into 7th grade, some of the bullies who had followed me into junior high cornered me and started a fight, *I fought back that time.* I broke one girl's nose, three of her ribs, and apparently came very close to collapsing a lung. I got suspended, but you know what i didn't get? That's right: bullied.
Most of these neo-Nazi pukes are bullies. Bullies only learn through pain. I'm usually all for taking the high road, but this is one of those cases where I think it's time we speak their language and nip this shit in the bud while we can.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 27 2018, @06:54AM (1 child)
He's still doing [google.com] his shtick, but the media doesn't care any more. Sad.
It's not because he somehow got outbullied.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @10:19AM
Not sad. More pathetic. This is exactly why we cannot have white supremacy! White people suck!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Monday March 26 2018, @12:57AM (2 children)
A bigot having the right to say mean things about beleaguered groups is as essential to free speech as others having the right to say mean things about bigots.
Censors should reflect that suppressing speech they don't like doubles its strength. Bigotry is undone only by small acts of daily decency.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @01:05AM (1 child)
Exactly. Humans are empathic and view bigotry and oppression with outrage, cue sociopaths who lack that capacity but claim bigotry and oppression where there is none in an attempt to manipulate every one else. Keep on keeping on!
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @07:51AM
Do you realise you just described jmorris as non-human?
(Score: 2, Informative) by hemocyanin on Monday March 26 2018, @01:49AM (3 children)
The CDC was never banned from studying gun violence -- they were simply prevented from funding "studies" that were so biased, poorly designed (unless you were seeking a specific result) as to amount to advocacy. The CDC then chose to do something else rather than do proper research.
https://www.theliberalgunclub.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=640013&sid=3f17ed0c21a4a722e296ba76842305ac#p640013 [theliberalgunclub.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @02:01PM (1 child)
Bullshit. As your own god-damned link says, they had to clear it from "perceived" advocacy, which is to say that they couldn't do any gun research at all because that would be perceived as being advocacy when the results came back that guns are causing these deaths.
These sorts of lies are why we have tens of thousands of people being killed by guns every years, the suicides alone number over 30k in a typical year. And the studies necessary to demonstrate that the guns are a problem can't be done because the CDC isn't being allowed to conduct the research.
Ignorant people like you make me sick. How do you sleep at night knowing that you're part of the problem here.
Also, the studies weren't poorly designed, they were using methods from epidemiology and that pissed off the needle dicks on the right. It turns out that the biggest factor predicting whether or not somebody will die by a gun is having a gun near them. Take away the gun and it doesn't happen because it turns out that it's difficult to be killed by something that's not present.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday March 26 2018, @03:34PM
I don't know where you are getting your numbers, but the CDC put it at 22k suicides last year. see page 33: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_06.pdf [cdc.gov] It is pretty disingenuous to use the suicide number in a conversation about how people unsafe because of firearms -- suicides are sad but not a threat and nothing in any gun control legislation is going to change that -- you need a magazine of one, it doesn't matter if the stock is wood or polymer, etc. etc.
Whether you like it or not, the CDC back then was doing advocacy research, sort of like cigarette companies looking for a particular conclusion. Actually, from the tone and misinformation in your post, I'm sure you'd be happy with such "research".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 27 2018, @03:00AM
the cdc needs to be eradicated as the disease they are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @03:53AM (2 children)
There had never been nor should there ever be anything requiring people to tolerate intolerance.
But we do have a law that says you cannot prohibit intolerant speech, at least in the U.S. And it is paramount that that law remains in force, exactly as written!, whether you like it or not. Censorship is evil, always. That is one of those things in this universe that just happens to be absolute, and is one thing that should never, ever be tolerated. All opinions to the contrary should be simply ignored, not given a moment's thought. Our goal should be to create an internet that cannot be controlled in the server/client fashion that cripples it today. Something where anybody can serve up whatever they want, and the people that don't like it can fuck off. Making censorship impossible would be a wonderful thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @02:03PM (1 child)
There is no such law on the books that says that we have to tolerate any sort of speech. We're perfectly free to boo at the speaker so loudly that they can't be heard, or to have nothing to do with them if we don't like what they're saying. Really, the closest thing to what you're saying is that the government can't throw those people in prison or prevent them equal access to government support.
But, that falls very far short of what you're suggesting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @05:51PM
We're perfectly free to boo at the speaker so loudly that they can't be heard
No, you have no right to keep other people from hearing what is said, none at all. In regards to speech, you only have the right to turn your back and/or respond with your own speech, and the others do have a right to hear. You are claiming that they don't, so, you are obviously wrong. You have no right to intrude on them any more than they do on you. The only legitimate restriction on speech is the decibel level, nothing else, not the tone, not the content, nothing. So turn your back, throw all the verbal insults you want, but do not interfere...
(Score: 2) by pipedwho on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:21PM (1 child)
"Political correctness" stems from harassment and equal opportunity laws. Companies/schools/institutions/etc fear the legal ramifications of allowing people to behave in ways that may be deemed discriminatory or harassing to another person. If a company has a policy on its books, it makes it easier to get rid of employees/students that are not 'toeing the line'. The problem with schools, colleges and universities is they are treated like financial centres in the sense that someone above the administration in those entities can deny funding or otherwise pull the plug on their viability. So even though they may not seem like they are corporations, they seem to act like them and are beholden to the same corporate laws.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:41PM
Yes, but it gets worse because in the modern era not only are you out access to those things if you're not politically correct, you're also likely to be shunned by other people in a social setting if you don't have the correct views.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:41PM (3 children)
I find that it is usually a good idea to check out the original aristarchus submission. Seems the eds have totally replaced not only his snark, but the relevant quotes from the fine article. For example:
So, not the case.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @03:45AM (1 child)
Not something to be done lightly or by those with a weak stomach. You'll usually find a steaming pile that probably should have been scraped off the editor's shoe and discarded.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 28 2018, @10:23AM
Ah, but for the adventurous! Those who can step out of their own ideological bubble. For the few, the proud, the philosophers! "Open your mind, Neo!"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Monday March 26 2018, @07:18AM
Submissions should be balanced and unbiased. Snark, sarcasm and personal views should be in the comments following the story. The story is not the mouthpiece of the submitter, but a topic for us all to discuss. The comments is where we all have our say.
The Editor's job is to edit. Despite a long tradition suggesting the opposite is the norm, we expect the story to be read. The original submission was much too long to be printed verbatim.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:03PM (22 children)
n/t
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @09:46PM (20 children)
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. You are correct. They are very afraid. That is why the left which was in power for eight years is having hysterical fits over Trump. They went from smug straight to hysterical in less than 24 hours on election day.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 25 2018, @10:26PM (1 child)
Part of me wanted to say "touche'" in response to your post. But honesty forces me to point out that Trump didn't usurp half of the ruling class. He usurped the Republicans first, then usurped the other half of the Demopublican ruling class.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @10:23AM
Pro-tip. If you ever find yourself in a situation where Runaway is wanting to say "Touch me", Run, run hard and run fast, and don't look back until you can run no longer. Just runaway.
(Score: 5, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Monday March 26 2018, @01:17AM (7 children)
Pretending that there is any left wing in US Federal politics is your mistake. Your Mr. Obama was no more left wing than any president in living memory.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday March 26 2018, @02:30AM (6 children)
Pretending that there is any left wing in US Federal politics is your mistake. Your Mr. Obama was no more left wing than any president in living memory.
Depends on your definition. If you try to compare on a global scale, you're correct, but left/right is also relative, and within modern American politics, Obama is indeed left-wing, even though he looks pretty center-right from a European perspective.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @04:10AM
That's insane, I mean like, totally absurd. There is nothing 'left wing' about our government. Nixon was more 'left wing' than Obama. I know, I was there. Obama should be known for appeasement, because that's all he did, appease the other faction of the party. Like Carter, he was a chair warmer, to get this whole 'black president' thing out of our system, and now we're back to the good old days. Aren't you happy?? Now, if you want a woman president, find one with some class... We're trying to drain the swamp, remember?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 26 2018, @04:05PM (3 children)
Like Asia or Africa, for example? Europe is not the world and there are plenty of places that are less liberal than the US.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday March 26 2018, @07:32PM (2 children)
Are those the places you want to compare the US to? Really?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 26 2018, @10:07PM (1 child)
"If you're trying to compare on a global scale".
There's a fair bit of good stuff happening elsewhere in the world. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all are doing pretty well, but they aren't particularly liberal. They account for 200 million people. China and India both are making democratic progress (with India being much further along). Again, not very liberal. Toss in the US and we're up to half the world's population, much larger than the European portion.
Meanwhile there are large components of Europe that we don't want to compare the US to. The financial disaster of the PIGS, the nanny states which, among other things, forbid "hate speech" precisely because laws against hate speech failed so badly (the Nazis and their regalia wouldn't be banned today, if they hadn't been so effective back in the 1930s at exploiting hate speech law of the day) when it mattered, and of course, the growing cancer of the EU bureaucracy.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday March 26 2018, @10:21PM
Oh.
OK then.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday March 26 2018, @07:23PM
No, he looks extreme right wing from any European perspective except Hungary maybe. It's the constant propaganda fooling you.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 26 2018, @02:15AM (9 children)
There has never been a powerful left wing in the US, and there has barely ever been a left wing at all. The Overton Window is so far to the right now that if Reagan were running on his original platform even the Dems wouldn't want him. Or are you too young to remember presidents of the late 60s through late 70s and early 80s calling for universal healthcare? There is video of Nixon saying that, IIRC.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday March 26 2018, @12:18PM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 26 2018, @07:16PM
That sounds solidly centrist to me, and also like excellent domestic statecraft :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by mobydisk on Monday March 26 2018, @05:12PM (6 children)
What Nixon meant by "universal heathcare" was completely different from what people think of today. Nixon meant that employers should offer healthcare coverage and employees should pay a portion of it. Today "universal heathcare" means the government pays 100% of it.
(Score: 3, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 26 2018, @07:15PM (5 children)
No, you illiterate moron, universal healthcare means the government is the single *insurer.* *We* would pay for it, via taxes.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Redundant) by mobydisk on Monday March 26 2018, @07:34PM (2 children)
I'm unsure how a post starting with "No, you illiterate moron" as the first sentence got modded up. But either way, you confirmed my point, which is that the definition of universal healthcare has changed since the Nixon era.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 26 2018, @07:53PM (1 child)
Whatever he meant by it, he still called for it. Can you imagine the utter shrieking rightwing shitstorm there would be if a modern President suggested that?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by toddestan on Tuesday March 27 2018, @02:35AM
A lot depends on who says it. Remember that Obamacare in many ways is just a nation-wide implementation of Romneycare. Which is one of those facts that doesn't fit into the Republican narrative so it tends to get ignored.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 26 2018, @08:17PM (1 child)
Your immature insults immediate discredit anything you might have said after. Someone disagreed with you. That is the beginning and end of it. You don't need to insult people to convey any points you have. Stating your rebuttal is plenty.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 26 2018, @09:03PM
Tone trolling has replaced patriotism as the last refuge of the scoundrel. Ponder that a moment; tone does not make the content any more or less true.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @11:22PM
n/t