Comment by hnlmorg
4 years ago
Most people are pro-censorship. What people generally disagree on is what should be censored. Some find nudity offensive, for others it’s ideas.
This is always been the case. Eg TV networks have guidelines on what they can and cannot air.
If anything, the internet brought about an unprecedented lack of censorship. But that was only when it was a smaller community of individuals. The moment it snowballed, moderation was needed (whether that was on IRC, BBS or wherever).
Umm… Yeah. I initially wanted to disagree, but then I think about obscenity laws in the USA, and it makes sense. This is similar to people not truly believing in Democracy. They only believe in it when they’re winning.
"truly believing in Democracy"
Right, the reason Democracy degenerates is due inherent disagreement, and the fact a democracy can still vote to stop being a democracy.
It only has one goal, namely not to let a small group of individuals take control. If a small group of individuals then influences the many, the point is rather moot.
But anyways, yeah. Don't censor anything. Instead let people do their own censorship, by which I don't mean censor themselves but censor other for themselves.
Everyone has things they dont want to or can't hear but nothing is unworthy of being said, not even blatantly false or disruptive things.
> Right, the reason Democracy degenerates is due inherent disagreement, and the fact a democracy can still vote to stop being a democracy.
Another possible explanation is that Democracy degenerates because the average person isn’t very bright and has a high time preference. Since the closer a society is to a true democracy the more the inclinations of the average citizen determine policymaking, you see poorly thought out short term plans that snowball over time into an avalanche of dysfunction.
Every society has blasphemy laws, be they codified or implicit. It’s just a matter of the targets. As the old saw goes, you can tell who is in charge because you’re not allowed to criticize them. Some societies have a jester’s privilege, but currently ours is at a nadir.