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Comment by matt4077

9 years ago

> "Sunlight is the best disinfectant"

It's not, actually. Fire is much better, and even alcohol is preferable. That's why there's very little open-air surgery.

> It is not wise to pretend that an opinion that you do not want just simply does not exist.

Reality doesn't support this idea. Every single country except the US has more stringent limits on what's acceptable speech. Yet among democratic countries, only the US has para-military right-wing terror groups in almost every state, and no country comes close to the dozens of deaths every year.

3 comments

matt4077

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doubleshame  9 years ago

Sure, fire is good when you're dealing with them roaches, but kill them as you will, does nothing for the ideas, which sunlight is good for.

Yes, the US actually does have excellent lines on what's acceptable speech. In my not-professional judgement, it's speech that is the proximate cause of violence and incites it, and the daily stormer is outside of that. If you're talking about the US, you'd let the courts decide, and not corporations.

  • dragonwriter  9 years ago

    > If you're talking about the US, you'd let the courts decide, and not corporations.

    In the US, you let corporations decide how to exercise their right of free expression just as much as anyone else.

    Freedom of speech means you are permitted to seek collaborators to help you spread your speech, not that others are obligated to disregard their own views to help promote yours. That kind of entitlement would violate the free speech rights of the forced collaborators.