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0 pointsakomtu4y ago0 comments

If we give up a right every time someone commits a crime using this right, soon we'll be left without rights. The next obvious target is speech: it's often used to incite violence at scale, and strict speech control would prevent that. But I'd rather live in a free country and accept the risks.

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8 comments · 4 top-level

trs80804y ago· 2 in thread

Sacrificing other people's children at the altar of "freedom" isn't "accepting the risks." What risk have you taken?

jstream674y ago

but you can argue 'for the children' in order to take away any freedom. Politicians do it so often it has become a meme. They are doing it right now to try and ban encryption for example..

akomtuOP4y ago

I also support freedom of thought. Does it mean I'm responsible for all nefarious crimes thought out in advance? If so, should I get credit for all discoveries made by others?

bitwize4y ago· 1 in thread

There are plenty of free countries without a First Amendment -- and saying something even vaguely Nazi-like in some of those countries risks criminal penalty. Furthermore, the absolutist interpretation of free speech we commonly associate with the First Amendment (virtually all speech protected, barring speech that causes immediate or imminent harm like threats, fighting words, and CSAM) has only really prevailed since 1969. I mean, immediately after the Bill of Rights was Ratified, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Anyway, I don't believe that owning a firearm without a license and strict government oversight is a right.

klyrs4y ago

> There are plenty of free countries without a First Amendment -- and saying something even vaguely Nazi-like in some of those countries risks criminal penalty.

This sounds like an extreme exaggeration, do you have a source to back that up? I've heard similar said about Canada, for example, but I've familiarized myself with the legislation and some case law and there is a very high bar to getting somebody a slap on the wrist.

robofanatic4y ago· 1 in thread

you have full right to live your life dangerously but you have no right to put others lives in danger.

CincinnatiMan4y ago

Unfortunately while that's an easy and vague statement to say, getting into the detailed implementations of what you're trying to say becomes difficult.

scollet4y ago

> The next obvious target is speech

In context this is supplemental to violent suppression of minorities.

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