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There’s surely a spectrum from authoritarianism to liberal democracy, but there’s also a case to be made for free vs not free countries: if you can get into a p

There’s surely a spectrum from authoritarianism to liberal democracy, but there’s also a case to be made for free vs not free countries: if you can get into a public Twitter spat with the President of your country, and not worry someone will come break your legs (or worse) the next day, I call that a free country. Everything else is not.

RVuRnvbM2e 8y ago
The thing with US free speech though is that it is mostly only allowed in specific, ineffectual circumstances - like Twitter or "free speech zones". Try doing something that is actually effective - like staging a protest - and you'll be charged with "unlawful demonstrating". How is that freedom? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/us/politics/womens-march-arrests-dc.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/us/politics/womens-march-... There are plenty of countries around the world that have real free speech. China is of course much worse than the US, but I don't think the US is the gold standard here.
- learc83 8y ago
  >Try doing something that is actually effective - like staging a protest - and you'll be charged with "unlawful demonstrating". How is that freedom? The 600 or so people who were arrested did so on purpose as part of the protest. They went there with the goal of being arrested and they staged a sit-in of a Senate office building in order to accomplish that goal. There were tens of thousands of other protesters marching through the streets who weren't arrested, asked to leave, or even bothered. >There are plenty of countries around the world that have real free speech. I don't know of a country in the world were taking over the atrium of a government building and refusing to leave when the police order you to wouldn't get you arrested. What countries are you thinking of?
  - _jahh 8y ago
    Op bloviates/ they probably hate / those United States
- forapurpose 8y ago
  > The thing with US free speech though is that it is mostly only allowed in specific, ineffectual circumstances - like Twitter or "free speech zones". This isn't true at all. Turn on cable news and read newspapers editorials. Read HN and Facebook and Reddit. See all the demonstrations around the U.S. today. Yes, some people have more powerful voices than others - people lack the bandwidth to give equal attention to over 300 million neighbors - but pretty much anyone can say anything, anywhere.

RVuRnvbM2e 8y ago

The thing with US free speech though is that it is mostly only allowed in specific, ineffectual circumstances - like Twitter or "free speech zones". Try doing something that is actually effective - like staging a protest - and you'll be charged with "unlawful demonstrating". How is that freedom? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/us/politics/womens-march-arrests-dc.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/us/politics/womens-march-... There are plenty of countries around the world that have real free speech. China is of course much worse than the US, but I don't think the US is the gold standard here.

learc83 8y ago
>Try doing something that is actually effective - like staging a protest - and you'll be charged with "unlawful demonstrating". How is that freedom? The 600 or so people who were arrested did so on purpose as part of the protest. They went there with the goal of being arrested and they staged a sit-in of a Senate office building in order to accomplish that goal. There were tens of thousands of other protesters marching through the streets who weren't arrested, asked to leave, or even bothered. >There are plenty of countries around the world that have real free speech. I don't know of a country in the world were taking over the atrium of a government building and refusing to leave when the police order you to wouldn't get you arrested. What countries are you thinking of?
- _jahh 8y ago
  Op bloviates/ they probably hate / those United States
forapurpose 8y ago
> The thing with US free speech though is that it is mostly only allowed in specific, ineffectual circumstances - like Twitter or "free speech zones". This isn't true at all. Turn on cable news and read newspapers editorials. Read HN and Facebook and Reddit. See all the demonstrations around the U.S. today. Yes, some people have more powerful voices than others - people lack the bandwidth to give equal attention to over 300 million neighbors - but pretty much anyone can say anything, anywhere.