2 ms·

>This is a dangerous thing to say publicly! It doesn't cost me much, apart from internet points. And really the ideas of sharing, equal laws, global humanism a

>This is a dangerous thing to say publicly! It doesn't cost me much, apart from internet points. And really the ideas of sharing, equal laws, global humanism and opposition to the centralization/concentration of capital genuinely seem good to me. And I'm not from the US, having those opinions seems quite mild to me. But yeah, I've made several political comments on HN these past few years, and the amount of votes (in both directions) seem to vary wildly according to what countries are awake, generally more downvotes when the US are awake.

Houshalter 9y ago
You missed my point. I was saying that if a red scare happens again, you could be persecuted for having written that comment. I admit it's a bit implausible. But not completely so, when you consider US history and the declining respect for freedom of expression.
- jrimbault 9y ago
  Yep I missed that. In that case I'll just hope I've inherited something from my grandmother (who was a resistant during WW2). ^^
- vacri 9y ago
  > declining respect for freedom of expression ... as opposed to the glory days of... when? A few decades ago, when blacks could say whatever they wanted, as long as they said it at the back of the bus? ... or was it when women's opinions weren't taken seriously at all, not when men were speaking? ... or was it more recently, with Bush's 'Free Speech Zones'? When was peak free speech in the US?
  - Houshalter 9y ago
    The US is much more polarized now than in previous decades. Look at these graphs: http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/ http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarizatio... The free speech zones you complain about have increased, not decreased: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone Sure a century ago minorities had less freedom. That's a great argument to increase the freedom of minorities, not decrease freedom for everyone. Is that really your argument? That black people had less free speech in the past, so we should get rid of free speech now?
    - jrimbault 9y ago
      >The US is much more polarized now than in previous decades I've seen this and I believe the data behind it, but I also think that while the US politics are very polarized right now, the actual spectrum of politics represented at the national level seems very narrow, and very right leaning (Reps and Dems).
    - vacri 9y ago
      > Is that really your argument? That black people had less free speech in the past, so we should get rid of free speech now? No, that would be you putting words in my mouth. I'm asking when was this supposed time in history when freedom of speech was much higher in the US than it is today; what peak is the respect 'declining' from?

Houshalter 9y ago

You missed my point. I was saying that if a red scare happens again, you could be persecuted for having written that comment. I admit it's a bit implausible. But not completely so, when you consider US history and the declining respect for freedom of expression.

jrimbault 9y ago
Yep I missed that. In that case I'll just hope I've inherited something from my grandmother (who was a resistant during WW2). ^^
vacri 9y ago
> declining respect for freedom of expression ... as opposed to the glory days of... when? A few decades ago, when blacks could say whatever they wanted, as long as they said it at the back of the bus? ... or was it when women's opinions weren't taken seriously at all, not when men were speaking? ... or was it more recently, with Bush's 'Free Speech Zones'? When was peak free speech in the US?
- Houshalter 9y ago
  The US is much more polarized now than in previous decades. Look at these graphs: http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/ http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarizatio... The free speech zones you complain about have increased, not decreased: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone Sure a century ago minorities had less freedom. That's a great argument to increase the freedom of minorities, not decrease freedom for everyone. Is that really your argument? That black people had less free speech in the past, so we should get rid of free speech now?
  - jrimbault 9y ago
    >The US is much more polarized now than in previous decades I've seen this and I believe the data behind it, but I also think that while the US politics are very polarized right now, the actual spectrum of politics represented at the national level seems very narrow, and very right leaning (Reps and Dems).
  - vacri 9y ago
    > Is that really your argument? That black people had less free speech in the past, so we should get rid of free speech now? No, that would be you putting words in my mouth. I'm asking when was this supposed time in history when freedom of speech was much higher in the US than it is today; what peak is the respect 'declining' from?