3 ms·

Another point is freedom of speech. In theory, Americans enjoy more freedom of speech (they don't have "hatred laws" that several European countries have), but

Another point is freedom of speech. In theory, Americans enjoy more freedom of speech (they don't have "hatred laws" that several European countries have), but it seems that due to political correctness, freedom of speech is practically more restricted than in Europe. Edit: Now that I'm thinking about this, another example struck me. When I was living in the US, several friends of mine there spent some time (a couple of nights) in jail for very minor offenses. In Europe, I haven't met anyone personally that has spent even a second in jail. It's only personal statistics, but I'm under the impression it's much easier to get imprisoned or bullied by a cop in the US than it is in western Europe.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
maxxxxx 9y ago
The freedom of speech situation is really interesting. In theory you have the first amendment but in practice the US does a lot self censoring. There are a ton of taboo topics you can't touch without fear of getting fired at your job or somebody getting angry. In Germany you have a few explicit laws against certain speech but in general I worried much less about something I said having negative consequences.
- falcolas 9y ago
  It doesn't help that "freedom of speech" is broadly taken to mean that the government can't restrict your speech. However, most forums where people congregate to speak are not managed by the government, but by corporations. And most people seem to find it totally OK for a corporation to silence any speech they want to.
  - betterunix2 9y ago
    Most people find it OK until it is their own speech being silenced, and then they have a problem. It's one thing when NAMBLA is banned from a social networking site, and another when your anti-war group is banned. That aside, there is an important difference between corporations and the government: corporations do not typically have the power to imprison or kill people, and when corporations want to impose a penalty they must ask the government to do it on their behalf. GoDaddy can refuse to provide service to nazis, but cannot do anything about nazis choosing some other registrar. A government can imprison people for running a nazi forum, even if the nazis set up their own registrar and maintain their own hosting.
- mpweiher 9y ago
  > US does a lot self censoring And corporations do a lot of censoring of their employees. Most of what passed as "corporate policy" at my last US-based employer here in Berlin was so blatantly illegal in Germany it was laughable.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

maxxxxx 9y ago

The freedom of speech situation is really interesting. In theory you have the first amendment but in practice the US does a lot self censoring. There are a ton of taboo topics you can't touch without fear of getting fired at your job or somebody getting angry. In Germany you have a few explicit laws against certain speech but in general I worried much less about something I said having negative consequences.

falcolas 9y ago
It doesn't help that "freedom of speech" is broadly taken to mean that the government can't restrict your speech. However, most forums where people congregate to speak are not managed by the government, but by corporations. And most people seem to find it totally OK for a corporation to silence any speech they want to.
- betterunix2 9y ago
  Most people find it OK until it is their own speech being silenced, and then they have a problem. It's one thing when NAMBLA is banned from a social networking site, and another when your anti-war group is banned. That aside, there is an important difference between corporations and the government: corporations do not typically have the power to imprison or kill people, and when corporations want to impose a penalty they must ask the government to do it on their behalf. GoDaddy can refuse to provide service to nazis, but cannot do anything about nazis choosing some other registrar. A government can imprison people for running a nazi forum, even if the nazis set up their own registrar and maintain their own hosting.
mpweiher 9y ago
> US does a lot self censoring And corporations do a lot of censoring of their employees. Most of what passed as "corporate policy" at my last US-based employer here in Berlin was so blatantly illegal in Germany it was laughable.