Comment by ixtli
3 months ago
Im curious by what metric things are improving in the US? I get that people are very defensive of their ability to say nearly anything they want in public but how has this protected us? The overton window continues to shift to the right, we continue to fund more and more war, the security state continues to expand, our actual privacy from the state itself is non-existent.
Again, i understand the desire for "freedom of speech" as it is mythologized in the US. I was born and raised here. But we do an absolute crap job of making an argument for it by our actions. The second you take that speech outside to the street with signs and a megaphone, no matter how many forms you fill out, you'll get beaten to within an inch of your life by security forces if the message you're making is, for example, anti-cop.
I am by in no way making any claim about China or defending their speech protections. What im trying to say is that even if we accept that there is true freedom of speech in the US (which im not sure i agree with) where has it gotten us? If you think conditions for anyone in the US who isn't wealthy have improved in the past 40 years then im not really sure what to say. About all we have left is the fact that legally you cant be arrested for social media posts. In general. Most of the time.
I never said things are improving in the US.
That’s precisely my point. Where do you live? The west? If not, whatever. But if you do then this is typical of what happens when you try to criticize the US. People do backbends to avoid the cold facts that regardless of what we WANT to be true of neoliberalism it’s a failed project and other modes of providing for people have outpaced it.