Should there be liberty for the intolerant?

[The Sum of Awe]

Either I've been spending too much time on Reddit, or there is an uprising in a certain political agenda that I believe would lead us straight to fascism. It's typically known as the "woke culture". I'm sure it's been talked about on here before.

I recently saw a Reddit post where a guy sporting a Swastika on his shoulder got punched in the face by a black guy. Thousands of comments were praising this, and it worries me.

I got into a debate in the thread that followed, I voiced my opinion that physical resentment to nonphysical opinion is exactly what the problem is in society. I argued that attacking these narrow minded sort of people just creates hate all around: 1) The Neo-nazi being attacked is going to be reinforced in his hate people of color because of this experience, 2) Neo-nazi's and other racists and bigots that saw the video are going to have their hate reinforced also. 3) Anti-white racists (which also seems to be a growing thing) are going to have their hate reinforced seeing this "justice" in action. .... etc. ---- A non-violent approach to the Neo-nazi would've spoken more, it would've shown peace from the person of color's side and influenced some bigot opinions to think "PoC aren't so bad", it would've reinforced the idea into some Anti-white racists that peace is a better reaction, etc. The Neo-nazi that was attacked may have been so relieved that he could've become more trusting or accepting of PoC - or not, but whatever the outcome it would've certainly been better than the reinforced hate from being decked in the face.

The debate eventually escalated into freedom of speech, whether or not we should tolerate the intolerant in society. I argued that people shouldn't be attacked for their opinions, they should be kept in check by reason and logic. When the bigoted opinions are no longer willing to meet at the level of reason and become harassment, that's when retaliation is necessary. Simply wearing a Swatsika is NOT harassment.

-----

The main point I'd like to discuss is how important it is to keep freedom of speech truly free. We shouldn't silence anybody for any opinion. Opinions aren't threatening, actions are. If we are to limit what a person is allowed to preach, speak about, believe, then that's the fertile grounds for fascism. If you are familiar with 1984, I think the Thought Police would become a literal thing if we start arresting people for wearing Swatsikas, using wrong gender pronouns, voicing their dislike for homosexuality - just like if we started arresting people for wearing BLM symbols, identifying as non-binary, or voicing their dislike for Christianity. It's all the same.

Unlimited freedom of speech and nonviolent protest is how minorities speak for themselves, and it doesn't matter if these minorities are bigots, everybody deserves the right to stand up for themselves against what they believe is oppression. Once we start silencing people, where does it end? Once Father Government has control over the words we say then the next thing you know we'll be unable to speak against the government at all.

I'm not a very political person, but that's something I know for a fact. We need to stop this censorship crap. We can't be banning stand-up comedians for offending us, we can't be punching people in the face for wearing symbols that offend us, we can't be accusing people of being transphobic or racist for any little thing people say (that's harassment just as much as actual transphobia and racism is). The majority will always speak the loudest, but this doesn't mean the minority should have no say. Are we really becoming better as a society by doing this thing, or just remaining the same but turning the tables?

 

[Secret Chief]

Unlimited freedom of speech

Have you heard of the shouting fire in a theatre thing?

With freedom comes responsibility. Or, at least, it should.

"Woke" is so last year.

 

[Lain]

The main point I'd like to discuss is how important it is to keep freedom of speech truly free. We shouldn't silence anybody for any opinion. Opinions aren't threatening, actions are. If we are to limit what a person is allowed to preach, speak about, believe, then that's the fertile grounds for fascism. If you are familiar with 1984, I think the Thought Police would become a literal thing if we start arresting people for wearing Swatsikas, using wrong gender pronouns, voicing their dislike for homosexuality - just like if we started arresting people for wearing BLM symbols, identifying as non-binary, or voicing their dislike for Christianity. It's all the same.

Unlimited freedom of speech and nonviolent protest is how minorities speak for themselves, and it doesn't matter if these minorities are bigots, everybody deserves the right to stand up for themselves against what they believe is oppression. Once we start silencing people, where does it end? Once Father Government has control over the words we say then the next thing you know we'll be unable to speak against the government at all.

I'm not a very political person, but that's something I know for a fact. We need to stop this censorship crap. We can't be banning stand-up comedians for offending us, we can't be punching people in the face for wearing symbols that offend us, we can't be accusing people of being transphobic or racist for any little thing people say (that's harassment just as much as actual transphobia and racism is). The majority will always speak the loudest, but this doesn't mean the minority should have no say. Are we really becoming better as a society by doing this thing, or just remaining the same but turning the tables?

Dangerous opinions lead to dangerous acts. I am fully intolerant and pro-censorship. There is no "paradox of intolerance" there is simply intolerance and all that matters is who you're against (most people are intolerant of rape and murder for instance, and many free-speech advocates do not want direct calls to violence). We're just haggling over the price.

That's just my opinion though.

 

[Stevicus]

Either I've been spending too much time on Reddit, or there is an uprising in a certain political agenda that I believe would lead us straight to fascism. It's typically known as the "woke culture". I'm sure it's been talked about on here before.

I recently saw a Reddit post where a guy sporting a Swastika on his shoulder got punched in the face by a black guy. Thousands of comments were praising this, and it worries me.

I hadn't heard of this incident, but I did some searching and found something from four years ago: Guy in Nazi armband learns the hard way he’s a jerk (nypost.com)

The article indicates that the man had been spotted on a bus in Seattle, wearing a Nazi armband and accosting a black man on the bus. That was posted to social media, at which point the local Antifa crowd started looking for him and found him, still wearing the armband.

After getting punched, the police came out, and the Nazi removed his armband, refused to talk to police, and left. At least this was what was reported in the article.

But it seems that he was doing more than just wearing a Nazi armband. Who would walk around downtown Seattle in a Nazi armband anyway? Was he mentally ill? Did he do it on a dare? I could see it if he was in Boise or some place like that, but Seattle? Something doesn't add up here. For all anyone knows, the entire incident could have been staged.

To answer your question, as far as I know, the First Amendment still allows for people to wear Nazi armbands. If someone punches someone else for wearing a Nazi armband, they would still be guilty of a violent crime.

If it wasn't staged then this person could very likely be mentally ill, so beating up a mentally ill person seems like bad form, no matter how you slice it.

 

[74x12]

Either I've been spending too much time on Reddit, or there is an uprising in a certain political agenda that I believe would lead us straight to fascism. It's typically known as the "woke culture". I'm sure it's been talked about on here before.

I recently saw a Reddit post where a guy sporting a Swastika on his shoulder got punched in the face by a black guy. Thousands of comments were praising this, and it worries me.

I got into a debate in the thread that followed, I voiced my opinion that physical resentment to nonphysical opinion is exactly what the problem is in society. I argued that attacking these narrow minded sort of people just creates hate all around: 1) The Neo-nazi being attacked is going to be reinforced in his hate people of color because of this experience, 2) Neo-nazi's and other racists and bigots that saw the video are going to have their hate reinforced also. 3) Anti-white racists (which also seems to be a growing thing) are going to have their hate reinforced seeing this "justice" in action. .... etc. ---- A non-violent approach to the Neo-nazi would've spoken more, it would've shown peace from the person of color's side and influenced some bigot opinions to think "PoC aren't so bad", it would've reinforced the idea into some Anti-white racists that peace is a better reaction, etc. The Neo-nazi that was attacked may have been so relieved that he could've become more trusting or accepting of PoC - or not, but whatever the outcome it would've certainly been better than the reinforced hate from being decked in the face.

The debate eventually escalated into freedom of speech, whether or not we should tolerate the intolerant in society. I argued that people shouldn't be attacked for their opinions, they should be kept in check by reason and logic. When the bigoted opinions are no longer willing to meet at the level of reason and become harassment, that's when retaliation is necessary. Simply wearing a Swatsika is NOT harassment.

-----

The main point I'd like to discuss is how important it is to keep freedom of speech truly free. We shouldn't silence anybody for any opinion. Opinions aren't threatening, actions are. If we are to limit what a person is allowed to preach, speak about, believe, then that's the fertile grounds for fascism. If you are familiar with 1984, I think the Thought Police would become a literal thing if we start arresting people for wearing Swatsikas, using wrong gender pronouns, voicing their dislike for homosexuality - just like if we started arresting people for wearing BLM symbols, identifying as non-binary, or voicing their dislike for Christianity. It's all the same.

Unlimited freedom of speech and nonviolent protest is how minorities speak for themselves, and it doesn't matter if these minorities are bigots, everybody deserves the right to stand up for themselves against what they believe is oppression. Once we start silencing people, where does it end? Once Father Government has control over the words we say then the next thing you know we'll be unable to speak against the government at all.

I'm not a very political person, but that's something I know for a fact. We need to stop this censorship crap. We can't be banning stand-up comedians for offending us, we can't be punching people in the face for wearing symbols that offend us, we can't be accusing people of being transphobic or racist for any little thing people say (that's harassment just as much as actual transphobia and racism is). The majority will always speak the loudest, but this doesn't mean the minority should have no say. Are we really becoming better as a society by doing this thing, or just remaining the same but turning the tables?

Yes the real fascists are those trying to silence opposing views. Just look up brown shirts breaking windows with bricks and then look up antifascists (so called) doing the same thing.

It's not just people with swastika's getting punched by the way. You can be attacked for wearing a MAGA hat by some so called "social justice warriors". I don't support Trump by the way. But you can see the slippery slope. If it's acceptable one day to punch a swastika wearing skin head then don't surprised if the radicalized mob --being unleashed-- is punching anyone they don't like the next day. Democrats and others in the current establishment utilized the mob but now it's getting out of hand. Playing with mobs is like playing with fire but Democrats don't seem to care.

The fact is the SJWs and others have been activated. It's not a grassroots movement. It's not the youth of America going their own way. It's all fully supported by the establishment. That's how you know it's not a true rebellion. It's not "punk rock" anymore. The real rebellion is standing against manipulation, disinformation, information gate keepers and absolute mind control techniques from the government.

 

[The Hammer]

We need to watch out for this.

Paradox of tolerance - Wikipedia

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

Either I've been spending too much time on Reddit, or there is an uprising in a certain political agenda that I believe would lead us straight to fascism. It's typically known as the "woke culture". I'm sure it's been talked about on here before.

I recently saw a Reddit post where a guy sporting a Swastika on his shoulder got punched in the face by a black guy. Thousands of comments were praising this, and it worries me.

I got into a debate in the thread that followed, I voiced my opinion that physical resentment to nonphysical opinion is exactly what the problem is in society. I argued that attacking these narrow minded sort of people just creates hate all around: 1) The Neo-nazi being attacked is going to be reinforced in his hate people of color because of this experience, 2) Neo-nazi's and other racists and bigots that saw the video are going to have their hate reinforced also. 3) Anti-white racists (which also seems to be a growing thing) are going to have their hate reinforced seeing this "justice" in action. .... etc. ---- A non-violent approach to the Neo-nazi would've spoken more, it would've shown peace from the person of color's side and influenced some bigot opinions to think "PoC aren't so bad", it would've reinforced the idea into some Anti-white racists that peace is a better reaction, etc. The Neo-nazi that was attacked may have been so relieved that he could've become more trusting or accepting of PoC - or not, but whatever the outcome it would've certainly been better than the reinforced hate from being decked in the face.

The debate eventually escalated into freedom of speech, whether or not we should tolerate the intolerant in society. I argued that people shouldn't be attacked for their opinions, they should be kept in check by reason and logic. When the bigoted opinions are no longer willing to meet at the level of reason and become harassment, that's when retaliation is necessary. Simply wearing a Swatsika is NOT harassment.

-----

The main point I'd like to discuss is how important it is to keep freedom of speech truly free. We shouldn't silence anybody for any opinion. Opinions aren't threatening, actions are. If we are to limit what a person is allowed to preach, speak about, believe, then that's the fertile grounds for fascism. If you are familiar with 1984, I think the Thought Police would become a literal thing if we start arresting people for wearing Swatsikas, using wrong gender pronouns, voicing their dislike for homosexuality - just like if we started arresting people for wearing BLM symbols, identifying as non-binary, or voicing their dislike for Christianity. It's all the same.

Unlimited freedom of speech and nonviolent protest is how minorities speak for themselves, and it doesn't matter if these minorities are bigots, everybody deserves the right to stand up for themselves against what they believe is oppression. Once we start silencing people, where does it end? Once Father Government has control over the words we say then the next thing you know we'll be unable to speak against the government at all.

I'm not a very political person, but that's something I know for a fact. We need to stop this censorship crap. We can't be banning stand-up comedians for offending us, we can't be punching people in the face for wearing symbols that offend us, we can't be accusing people of being transphobic or racist for any little thing people say (that's harassment just as much as actual transphobia and racism is). The majority will always speak the loudest, but this doesn't mean the minority should have no say. Are we really becoming better as a society by doing this thing, or just remaining the same but turning the tables?

Hateful speech and actions are evil.
One is NOT free to murder another, without consequences.
Hateful speech is a form of murder.
There must be consequences.

Hitler was last century’s fascist hater.

We have a fresh face (all thinking individuals know of whom I speak) this century, but it’s the same old evil.

 

[mangalavara]

Either I've been spending too much time on Reddit, or there is an uprising in a certain political agenda that I believe would lead us straight to fascism. It's typically known as the "woke culture".

It might just be Reddit. After all, the site is Reddit. You can find the same woke culture on Twitter and in mainline Protestant churches, of course. The last two are in decline and I say 'Good riddance.'

Like you, I believe woke culture can lead us to fascism, which I understand is a far-right political ideology. Pushing woke ideas and values onto the general public could indeed provoke a bad reaction that might lead to a less liberal political environment. People who are deeply committed to politics ought to remember that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The same law applies in politics. I don't say this to threaten at all, rather, I think we need to be careful in this game.

The Neo-nazi that was attacked may have been so relieved that he could've become more trusting or accepting of PoC - or not, but whatever the outcome it would've certainly been better than the reinforced hate from being decked in the face.

There are white men who are former Klansmen all because of the kindness and invitation to reason on the part of some black men. It's so beautiful.

It helps to understand why some white Americans join hate groups. From what I heard, one reason is that they perceive social injustice toward white Americans in general. People who want to see the decline of hate groups might consider learning what motivates some individuals to join hate groups and actually address those reasons.

I argued that people shouldn't be attacked for their opinions, they should be kept in check by reason and logic. When the bigoted opinions are no longer willing to meet at the level of reason and become harassment, that's when retaliation is necessary. Simply wearing a Swatsika is NOT harassment.

Many people in the woke culture have the idea that words are violence. Even silence is interpreted as violence by many of them. This is why some of them believe in inflicting actual violence on people who don't even make the first move.

Once we start silencing people, where does it end?

It might end with the fall of the oppressive regime that continuously finds something to 'correct.' Not saying the woke movement is the current regime in America, by the way.

Are we really becoming better as a society by doing this thing, or just remaining the same but turning the tables?

We had McCarthyism and the Christian Right in action. The latter though is still a thing, of course. Now, we have the illiberal left using more or less the same and similar tactics as the former two.

This reminds me of something I heard Bill Maher say about the current political climate. He mentioned that he met a Taxi driver from Bosnia who immigrated to the US. The Taxi driver told Maher that just before the Bosnian War (1992–1995) began, there was hostility between people over there that we now have here in the US. Hopefully, this trend will not lead to another senseless civil war.

 

[Revoltingest]

Hateful speech is a form of murder.

Uh oh.

 

[JustGeorge]

This reminds me of something I heard Bill Maher say about the current political climate. He mentioned that he met a Taxi driver from Bosnia who immigrated to the US. The Taxi driver told Maher that just before the Bosnian War (1992–1995) began, there was hostility between people over there that we now have here in the US. Hopefully, this trend will not lead to another senseless civil war.

Not the first time I've heard of a reference to the US becoming Bosnia...

Locally, we have a lot of Bosnian immigrants who fled from that war. My family was attacked and we, of course, called the police. The officer who responded was one of those refugees. He did his job, took information, drove us to the station to make reports. I begged him to stay with us. The first attack was just a beating; I knew enough from growing up in the city that they'd be back with weapons. If he stayed, he could jump out and get them when they came back. He ignored me.

I was right. They came with guns. We called the cops. He appeared in minutes, but the flashing lights scared the jerks off. My husband blew up at him "You don't give a ****! We told you to stay!" He blew up back. "I wanted to stay; my superior wouldn't let me! I've been waiting for this at the gas station[which was two blocks away]" The normally quiet officer was livid. "This place reminds me of Bosnia all over again!" He kicked our trash can and went livid on how the two places were alike. Him and my husband lamented together, until the other officers showed up(none of whom gave a crap).

I'm often puzzled why so many people think the US is such a safe place. And I feel its becoming more unsafe as hostilities grow.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Either I've been spending too much time on Reddit, or there is an uprising in a certain political agenda that I believe would lead us straight to fascism. It's typically known as the "woke culture". I'm sure it's been talked about on here before.

I recently saw a Reddit post where a guy sporting a Swastika on his shoulder got punched in the face by a black guy. Thousands of comments were praising this, and it worries me.

I got into a debate in the thread that followed, I voiced my opinion that physical resentment to nonphysical opinion is exactly what the problem is in society. I argued that attacking these narrow minded sort of people just creates hate all around: 1) The Neo-nazi being attacked is going to be reinforced in his hate people of color because of this experience, 2) Neo-nazi's and other racists and bigots that saw the video are going to have their hate reinforced also. 3) Anti-white racists (which also seems to be a growing thing) are going to have their hate reinforced seeing this "justice" in action. .... etc. ---- A non-violent approach to the Neo-nazi would've spoken more, it would've shown peace from the person of color's side and influenced some bigot opinions to think "PoC aren't so bad", it would've reinforced the idea into some Anti-white racists that peace is a better reaction, etc. The Neo-nazi that was attacked may have been so relieved that he could've become more trusting or accepting of PoC - or not, but whatever the outcome it would've certainly been better than the reinforced hate from being decked in the face.

The debate eventually escalated into freedom of speech, whether or not we should tolerate the intolerant in society. I argued that people shouldn't be attacked for their opinions, they should be kept in check by reason and logic. When the bigoted opinions are no longer willing to meet at the level of reason and become harassment, that's when retaliation is necessary. Simply wearing a Swatsika is NOT harassment.

-----

The main point I'd like to discuss is how important it is to keep freedom of speech truly free. We shouldn't silence anybody for any opinion. Opinions aren't threatening, actions are. If we are to limit what a person is allowed to preach, speak about, believe, then that's the fertile grounds for fascism. If you are familiar with 1984, I think the Thought Police would become a literal thing if we start arresting people for wearing Swatsikas, using wrong gender pronouns, voicing their dislike for homosexuality - just like if we started arresting people for wearing BLM symbols, identifying as non-binary, or voicing their dislike for Christianity. It's all the same.

Unlimited freedom of speech and nonviolent protest is how minorities speak for themselves, and it doesn't matter if these minorities are bigots, everybody deserves the right to stand up for themselves against what they believe is oppression. Once we start silencing people, where does it end? Once Father Government has control over the words we say then the next thing you know we'll be unable to speak against the government at all.

I'm not a very political person, but that's something I know for a fact. We need to stop this censorship crap. We can't be banning stand-up comedians for offending us, we can't be punching people in the face for wearing symbols that offend us, we can't be accusing people of being transphobic or racist for any little thing people say (that's harassment just as much as actual transphobia and racism is). The majority will always speak the loudest, but this doesn't mean the minority should have no say. Are we really becoming better as a society by doing this thing, or just remaining the same but turning the tables?

The 'woke' left claims it's free and stands for freedom but the 'woke' cancel culture is anything but that. They are incredibly dystopian and pro totalitarianism bunch. Cut from the same material as the people they accuse and attempt to censor.

It's really quite a sight.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Hateful speech and actions are evil.
One is NOT free to murder another, without consequences.
Hateful speech is a form of murder.
There must be consequences.

Hitler was last century’s fascist hater.

We have a fresh face (all thinking individuals know of whom I speak) this century, but it’s the same old evil.

No speech is not murder.

Words alone don't kill whatsoever and its incredibly stupid and naive to think otherwise.

What kills is physical action. Not words.

 

[Twilight Hue]

It might just be Reddit. After all, the site is Reddit. You can find the same woke culture on Twitter and in mainline Protestant churches, of course. The last two are in decline and I say 'Good riddance.'

Like you, I believe woke culture can lead us to fascism, which I understand is a far-right political ideology. Pushing woke ideas and values onto the general public could indeed provoke a bad reaction that might lead to a less liberal political environment. People who are deeply committed to politics ought to remember that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The same law applies in politics. I don't say this to threaten at all, rather, I think we need to be careful in this game.



There are white men who are former Klansmen all because of the kindness and invitation to reason on the part of some black men. It's so beautiful.

It helps to understand why some white Americans join hate groups. From what I heard, one reason is that they perceive social injustice toward white Americans in general. People who want to see the decline of hate groups might consider learning what motivates some individuals to join hate groups and actually address those reasons.



Many people in the woke culture have the idea that words are violence. Even silence is interpreted as violence by many of them. This is why some of them believe in inflicting actual violence on people who don't even make the first move.



It might end with the fall of the oppressive regime that continuously finds something to 'correct.' Not saying the woke movement is the current regime in America, by the way.



We had McCarthyism and the Christian Right in action. The latter though is still a thing, of course. Now, we have the illiberal left using more or less the same and similar tactics as the former two.

This reminds me of something I heard Bill Maher say about the current political climate. He mentioned that he met a Taxi driver from Bosnia who immigrated to the US. The Taxi driver told Maher that just before the Bosnian War (1992–1995) began, there was hostility between people over there that we now have here in the US. Hopefully, this trend will not lead to another senseless civil war.

Civil War is all but assured if this present pace continues.

The good news is it can still be avoided if people start acting like civilized beings again.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I don't really care if Nazi feel reinforced by not letting their vitriol be spread. Ignoring nazi have never made them go away. If anything, they take it as weakness and push harder.

Giving space to hateful ideologies makes space for hateful ideologies. Gives them room to grow and spread.
Nazi declarations and propaganda is outright illegal in Germany. And I wish it were here too. Because Nazism is an actual fascist movement looking to do hateful speech *and* hateful action. And I take them at their word.

"The woke are the *real* facists" is, to me, akin to saying 'the Jews are the *real* threat. After all (insert presumptions of insular community behavior and anti-semetic conspiracy theory) deserves to be heard and taken seriously. And they want to stop it!'

 

[mangalavara]

I'm often puzzled why so many people think the US is such a safe place. And I feel its becoming more unsafe as hostilities grow.

I feel it, too. In my case, I stopped going for outdoor walks for fear of being attacked by some brainwashed lowlife. Also, I am in the process of trying to move to a safer country as fast as I can.

The good news is it can still be avoided if people start acting like civilized beings again.

That might be asking too much for some political groups. To them, their cause is 'just.'

 

[Twilight Hue]

I feel it, too. In my case, I stopped going for outdoor walks for fear of being attacked by some brainwashed lowlife. Also, I am in the process of trying to move to a safer country as fast as I can.



That might be asking too much for some political groups. To them, their cause is 'just.'

I find if you go to smaller towns more rural locals in the states it will be more like it was in the past. Generally friendly and good hospitality.

People there are not interested in the circus sideshow metro politics run by multicolored clowns and freaks and are more focused on regular daily life as it always was.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

Uh oh.

yeah, not good

 

[sun rise]

I hadn't heard of this incident, but I did some searching and found something from four years ago: Guy in Nazi armband learns the hard way he’s a jerk (nypost.com)

The article indicates that the man had been spotted on a bus in Seattle, wearing a Nazi armband and accosting a black man on the bus. That was posted to social media, at which point the local Antifa crowd started looking for him and found him, still wearing the armband.

After getting punched, the police came out, and the Nazi removed his armband, refused to talk to police, and left. At least this was what was reported in the article.

But it seems that he was doing more than just wearing a Nazi armband. Who would walk around downtown Seattle in a Nazi armband anyway? Was he mentally ill? Did he do it on a dare? I could see it if he was in Boise or some place like that, but Seattle? Something doesn't add up here. For all anyone knows, the entire incident could have been staged.

To answer your question, as far as I know, the First Amendment still allows for people to wear Nazi armbands. If someone punches someone else for wearing a Nazi armband, they would still be guilty of a violent crime.

If it wasn't staged then this person could very likely be mentally ill, so beating up a mentally ill person seems like bad form, no matter how you slice it.

"Accosted a black man" is a trigger for me. I don't know the details of what this means but if a drunk "accosts" another drunk in a bar and blows are thrown, it's not a freedom of speech issue.

 

[Bodie]

Hitler was last century’s fascist hater.
We have a fresh face (all thinking individuals know of whom I speak) this century, but it’s the same old evil.

Oprah Winfrey?

 

[Debater Slayer]

History shows us that Nazis never stopped by being treated with kid gloves or by being given a platform for their incitement of hatred and violence. They were almost only stopped with suppression and blunt force, and even then, it was only after they had killed and tortured millions of people.

I don't care if an actual Nazi gets punched for airing their pro-genocide beliefs in public; I'm far more concerned about the fact that it is still legal in many countries for the Nazi to publicly advertise incitement of violence up to and including genocide--which is exactly what one does when they proudly display Nazi symbols or repeat Nazi talking points in public.

Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and multiple other highly developed and prosperous countries ban Nazi symbols and speech in public, and for good reason. They also happen to be among the world's most free countries and are well ahead of the U.S. in multiple metrics of quality of life. Clearly, silencing Nazis--which doesn't even happen often enough in the U.S.--is far from being the cause of the currently undesirable status quo of U.S. politics.