TurkeyOnRye
Well-Known Member
Well, we can't just have people believing whatever they want, now, can we?Well, that's an "issue" regarding all aspects of civil organization, isn't it. And yet some means has to be instituted to oversee social civil interaction. And I think this is exactly what the Canadians are trying figure out. As opposed to here in the the U.S. where we can just lie with impunity about pretty much anything and everything, and as a result people are now simply believing whatever lies they happen to like.
I don't see how the fundamental goal of the ideal of freedom of speech is being served by allowing people and institutions to lie with impunity. Especially as the end result is that 'speech' becomes more and more valueless, and meaningless.
Is it really that impossible for modern society to institute some means of overseeing honesty in speech? I really don't think it would be that difficult. What will be difficult is that every politician and every corporate CEO will fight such oversight tooth and nail, as they are the most prolific liars among us.
Much of what humans regard as "truth" is simply consensus or belief, and not ACTUAL truth. Again, the problem is determination of what is true and what is not. Just take scientific endeavor for instance. If you look at our scientific understanding of 100 years ago, very little of what we thought we knew was correct. We can only approximate truth. If there is no freedom of speech, it'll just drive deviant speech underground, and sooner or later, those seeds will bear fruit. During the pandemic, the "lab leak" hypothesis was regarded as conspiratorial nonsense. And yet, years later, the Department of Energy and the FBI both concede that that was the most likely origin of the coronavirus. Truth is only truth until it's found to be a lie. Lies are only lies until they're found to be truth.
Censorship is a very VERY dangerous thing. I am not concerned about "lies running amuck". Ultimately, lies and mistruths do not survive the course of time, because they have no purchase in reality.