Would you agree that free speech as a right is free, if your speech falls within the accepted limits if the majority?

@Pherick
I know the US government does not have the power to prohibit hate speech.

But imagine if it did. How long do you think it would be before somebody like Trump started to apply the reasoning to his domestic opponents. Just thinking outside the box.

@Random1Thoughts Well if we are just playing a thought game there, then I would imagine someone like trump would have no issue cracking down on speech he doesn't like.

@chrissykisses 👍

@chrissykisses
So are we allowed to tolerate people who are intolerant of intolerance? And who gets to decide which type of "intolerance" is permissible in our society?

@Random1Thoughts It's not terribly complicated. You have a right to free speech, they have a right to free speech.

If you say something reprehensible to me, I have the right to call you out for it.

If I do or say something reprehensible to you, you have the right to call me out for it.

The reason people on the far right feel so cautious about stating their beliefs is because many of their beliefs are vile, mean-spirited, and generally inhumane.

No one's saying you can't criticize socialism or multiculturalism or liberalism (and my bet is that those are mostly euphemisms for "shitty opinions about gay \ non-white people") - but when you treat people as less than human, or try to ignore the fact of their humanity in favor of some bullshit ideology, there are people who are going to call you on the immorality \ amorality of your crap.

The right has been doing this to the left with impunity for years: they exercise their right to free speech on abortion, homosexuality, and any number of other topics - they call doctors murderers, they call PEOPLE who have committed no crime other than loving each other evil, and they do so at the risk of being socially excluded by people who disagree with them.

That is, in fact, their right. But it's also the right of people on the left. That's why free speech is so important. Both sides get to make their argument - but frankly, if you say some really heinous stuff and try to degrade or demean other human beings, you probably deserve whatever you have coming.

@EugenieLaBorgia Yes, it's true. But manners are relative ...

@Pherick @WoodyAq Clucking like chickens ready for the slaughter or donkeys braying for a lost roadside carrot is not the medium for conveying rational thought. It is the medium for conveying grain to the hopper. An attributed statement by Da Vinci: 'Dove si grida non è vera scienza' - when there exists shouting, no knowledge is present.

@EugenieLaBorgia Very nice quote!👏

@Tatsumi
I remember reading a study conducted by Fawcett Society in 2016. They are the UK's leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women's rights.

According to the study, more women identify as 'anti-feminist' than 'feminist' (only 7%). But as soon as anyone speaks out against 'feminism' in public, it is branded 'hate speech' and they are called 'misogynists' even though they're clearly only saying what most people are thinking.

@DaveyTaco
That's usually the case, I am somewhat like that too.

Exactly. @TheOneyouwerewarnedabout

@WoodyAq
There's no definitive fine line in the murky waters of free speech.

@Random1Thoughts It is true. Personally, I find the lines between acceptable and unacceptable too strict. To the detriment of us all.