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> Maybe you have to actively oppose the gov to get kicked down? You mean kind like you're free to go wherever you want in prison, as long as you don't try to w
by PavlovsCat 11y ago
> Maybe you have to actively oppose the gov to get kicked down?
You mean kind like you're free to go wherever you want in prison, as long as you don't try to walk out of the door of your cell? :P
Here's a really sobering thought though:
> You can have a lot of political 'change' in the United States, but will it really change that much? Will it change the amount of money in someone’s bank account? Will it change contracts? Will it void contracts that already exist? And contracts on contracts? And contracts on contracts on contracts? Not really.
> So I say that free speech in many Western places is free not as a result of liberal circumstances but rather as a result of such intense fiscalization that it doesn’t matter what you say. The dominant elite doesn’t have to be scared of what people think, because a change in political view is not going to change whether they own their company or not; it is not going to change whether they own a piece of land or not. But China is still a political society, although it is rapidly heading toward a fiscalized society. And other societies, like Egypt, are still heavily politicized. Their rulers really do need to be concerned about what people think, so they expend proportionate efforts on controlling freedom of speech.
-- Julian Assange
- rorykoehler 11y agoA bit ironic to quote Julian Assange in this case considering his current predicament. Free speech exists in the west only for those who don't say anything important. As soon as you say something important you end up in Julian's shoes.