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Without free speech you don't have well informed voters. Without well informed voters your democracy is just an authoritarian state that makes decisions by vote
by DasIch 10y ago
Without free speech you don't have well informed voters. Without well informed voters your democracy is just an authoritarian state that makes decisions by voters as proxy.
- kiba 10y agoWithout free speech you don't have well informed voters What about uninformed bullshitting speech that cause voters to not make the 'well-informed' choice?
- tremon 10y agoAre you arguing that there is only one "correct" choice? Such a belief is rooted in authoritarianism, not democracy.
- platz 10y agoTriggered.
- kiba 10y agoI am not arguing authoritarianism or democracy, just pointing out that anybody can believe or say anything they want in a society with free speech. What is the forcing function that moves voter toward making informed choices, whatever informed may be?
- tremon 10y agoWhat is the forcing function that moves voter toward making informed choices, whatever informed may be? Education.
- Karunamon 10y agoThat still implies an uncomfortable level of authoritarianism. Educated by who, about what, how, to what end? Facts and opinions often don't have much to do with each other.
- tremon 10y agoEducated by society, about democratic principles, through any means available, to teach informed decision making. No authority required, except for a commitment to the democratic proces; the rest is up to society itself.
- DasIch 10y agoWhat is and isn't uninformed bullshitting speech is something a voter should be able to figure out by comparing it with all the different forms of speech they have access to. If you only have one form of speech because others are not allowed, how is any voter to tell if it's bullshit?
- kiba 10y agoWhat if the state could make the choice of excluding incorrect views from spreading across the population? Would that improve outcome in elections? Of course, we cross into the treasonous water of the state possibly banning views that it didn't like, rather than simply uninformed views.
- DasIch 10y agoExcluding incorrect views is difficult. If you only do it lightly, as is done with the holocaust you don't get very far. If you go further, say what China is doing, you get quite a lot of criticism which can be a problem. You also risk succumbing to your own biases and excluding information that is correct. If that happens and the truth comes out, which it always does, your state eventually becomes unstable.