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What an inappropriate article for HN. Same old boring 1950s fear-mongering, same old shitty hatred for socialism, same old "American Exceptionalism" bullshit fr

What an inappropriate article for HN. Same old boring 1950s fear-mongering, same old shitty hatred for socialism, same old "American Exceptionalism" bullshit from the 20s. Next. This interview needs a TL;DR and the interviewee needs to get in a cemetery.

nkurz 10y ago
I found it well worth reading. In particular, I thought the following paragraph expressed my own beliefs better than I've previously been able to: Do you believe that society should draw the line at all when it comes to limitations on hate speech? No. Hate speech laws are wrong. The question – not a question, but THE question – is ‘who gets to define hate?” That’s not to say there’s no such thing as hate speech – clearly there is. Hate speech laws repress, and I mean that in the psycho-analytical sense. They drive [hate speech] underground. It’s not a good idea, because things get ugly when you drive them underground. They don’t disappear, they just fester, and they’re not subject to correction. I made these videos, and they have been subject to a tremendous amount of correction over the last six weeks. I don’t just mean from my public response, but also partly from the university’s response, partly from a group of friends who have been reviewing my videos and criticizing them to death. This is why free speech is so important. You can struggle to formulate some argument, but when you throw it out into the public, there’s a collective attempt to modify and improve that. So with the hate speech issue – say someone’s a Holocaust denier, because that’s the standard routine – we want those people out there in the public so you can tell them why they’re historically ignorant, and why their views are unfounded and dangerous. If you drive them underground, it’s not like they stop talking to each other, they just don’t talk to anyone who disagrees with them. That’s a really bad idea and that’s what’s happening in the United States right now. Half of the country doesn’t talk to the other half. Do you know what you call people you don’t talk to? Enemies.
douche 10y ago
Completely worthless comment? I'm glad that there are people standing up for common sense, despite the danger to their reputation, careers, and possibly, if insanity goes unchecked, freedom. There are some disturbingly authoritarian viewpoints that are becoming chillingly widespread in our supposed bastions of liberal free-thought.
Chris2048 10y ago
Was fear over soviet socialism unfounded?

nkurz 10y ago

I found it well worth reading. In particular, I thought the following paragraph expressed my own beliefs better than I've previously been able to: Do you believe that society should draw the line at all when it comes to limitations on hate speech? No. Hate speech laws are wrong. The question – not a question, but THE question – is ‘who gets to define hate?” That’s not to say there’s no such thing as hate speech – clearly there is. Hate speech laws repress, and I mean that in the psycho-analytical sense. They drive [hate speech] underground. It’s not a good idea, because things get ugly when you drive them underground. They don’t disappear, they just fester, and they’re not subject to correction. I made these videos, and they have been subject to a tremendous amount of correction over the last six weeks. I don’t just mean from my public response, but also partly from the university’s response, partly from a group of friends who have been reviewing my videos and criticizing them to death. This is why free speech is so important. You can struggle to formulate some argument, but when you throw it out into the public, there’s a collective attempt to modify and improve that. So with the hate speech issue – say someone’s a Holocaust denier, because that’s the standard routine – we want those people out there in the public so you can tell them why they’re historically ignorant, and why their views are unfounded and dangerous. If you drive them underground, it’s not like they stop talking to each other, they just don’t talk to anyone who disagrees with them. That’s a really bad idea and that’s what’s happening in the United States right now. Half of the country doesn’t talk to the other half. Do you know what you call people you don’t talk to? Enemies.

douche 10y ago

Completely worthless comment? I'm glad that there are people standing up for common sense, despite the danger to their reputation, careers, and possibly, if insanity goes unchecked, freedom. There are some disturbingly authoritarian viewpoints that are becoming chillingly widespread in our supposed bastions of liberal free-thought.

Chris2048 10y ago

Was fear over soviet socialism unfounded?