tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post2192021047655805754..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Who Should Speak?Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-70991948075109913872017-10-10T14:05:59.379-04:002017-10-10T14:05:59.379-04:00Oh, I certainly think people *should* avoid attack...Oh, I certainly think people *should* avoid attacking each other; I do my best. I'm just not sure they should be fired from their jobs for voicing their rancid beliefs. <br /><br />The point about the state limiting verbal conflict is interesting. Germany decided after WW II that the country simply could not tolerate any defense of Nazism, and that seems to have worked out pretty well for them. But do we in the US really need to ban whole categories of speech to preserve a civil political discourse? It seems like a nightmare to me. But I agree that nothing else seems to be working.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-63868448142702395592017-10-10T09:15:18.872-04:002017-10-10T09:15:18.872-04:00I would add, you often cite with respect the found...I would add, you often cite with respect the founding fathers' belief that the personal virtue of its citizens is an absolute prerequisite for the preservation of republics. In the last few decades, much of our virtue has been about the avoidance of saying certain things, the discouragement of the airing of certain ideas, and indeed, the effective silencing of certain people by common consent--a very necessary virtue in a multiethnic society. That virtue is now in the way of becoming corrupted, and its corruption will mark a severe test of our republic.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993570411881726772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-62646116163060732762017-10-10T08:47:37.238-04:002017-10-10T08:47:37.238-04:00I am reminded of those medieval Italian towns that...I am reminded of those medieval Italian towns that sealed the ending of internal social conflicts by banning the expression of factional slogans, symbols, rallying cries, insults, and the like. Both cases reveal the common, laudable human insight that insults and slights and other purely social behaviors are fundamental causes of social conflict, as much or more than material factors.<br /><br />You seem to be interested, in the name of social peace, in the left silencing its tendency to accuse its opponents of racism. Very well then, you may be right, but by the same token, will not the right have to silence itself in turn? If social peace is the goal, can we have it that accusing Charles Murray of racism is to be labeled a dangerous call to violence, while the bell curve itself is simply an interesting idea that deserves an airing?<br /><br />Perhaps we are truly heading to a period of history in which we will need a more Hobbesian state to keep us from each other's throats.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993570411881726772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-14826330286057451832017-10-09T22:13:02.791-04:002017-10-09T22:13:02.791-04:00John, if you think that not wanting to give a hear...John, if you think that not wanting to give a hearing to holocaust denial is about wanting everyone to be nice, or wanting to avoid controversy, that's pretty disturbing.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993570411881726772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-4954548060026008422017-10-09T18:54:20.515-04:002017-10-09T18:54:20.515-04:00My takeaway is that the more people perceive someo...My takeaway is that the more people perceive someone's speech as being directly harmful to other people, the more they object to it. There's clearly a difference between merely expressing an ugly opinion, and doing things like directly calling for violence or threatening specific actions against specific people.<br /><br />In addition, the cited list seems to suggest that some notions mat be generally perceived as more or less harmful than actually are, telling you something about our culture at large, and our societal flaws, biases, and blindspots.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com