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>And people should be okay with his persecution by the people who had the political upper hand in that era? No? Then why should anyone be okay with deplatformin

>And people should be okay with his persecution by the people who had the political upper hand in that era? No? Then why should anyone be okay with deplatforming Alex Jones (as bad as he is) by whoever has the political upper hand at the moment? Because one was a indispensible paragon of civil rights and an avatar of anti-racism and the other is a shrieking whackjob entertainer peddling freeze-dried survivalist food while spreading lies, mental illness and grief to families of murdered kids. Hey, you're the one who brought up history.

ThrowawayR2 8y ago
And when the next generation's MLK shows up and gets persecuted again by the powers that be, except now there are even better deplatforming tools to silence him? Whoops, game over. Hey, you're the one who failed to think things through. The tired old "b-but deplatforming will only ever by used against _bad_ people" argument is exactly a failure to appreciate the lessons of history, of which MLK is an excellent example.
- harrumph 8y ago
  >Hey, you're the one who failed to think things through. No, I'm the one who corrected an utterly insane equivalence drawn between a commercial figure who drives grieving fathers of murdered kids to suicide and a man who was literally killed for his demanding equal treatment for all people. Again: if you bring up history, you are now forced to deal with historical results and categories. Deal with them. Don't just pretend you are.
  - ThrowawayR2 8y ago
    I don't see a valid counterargument in your response? It's ironic that, on a site where the UNIX philosophy is widely appreciated, that so many fail to appreciate the wisdom of the old quote "UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things.". So too, with Alex Jones, MLK, and freedom of speech.
    - harrumph 8y ago
      >I don't see a valid counterargument in your response? Yes, there is much you do not see. >UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things because that would also stop you from doing clever things. You've employed another ridiculous comparison by failing to notice that the "you" in this quote is root. Users of UNIX are every day all day prevented from doing stupid things. Try, please, to remain planted on the ground of this planet, concerned with its history.

ThrowawayR2 8y ago

And when the next generation's MLK shows up and gets persecuted again by the powers that be, except now there are even better deplatforming tools to silence him? Whoops, game over. Hey, you're the one who failed to think things through. The tired old "b-but deplatforming will only ever by used against _bad_ people" argument is exactly a failure to appreciate the lessons of history, of which MLK is an excellent example.

harrumph 8y ago
>Hey, you're the one who failed to think things through. No, I'm the one who corrected an utterly insane equivalence drawn between a commercial figure who drives grieving fathers of murdered kids to suicide and a man who was literally killed for his demanding equal treatment for all people. Again: if you bring up history, you are now forced to deal with historical results and categories. Deal with them. Don't just pretend you are.
- ThrowawayR2 8y ago
  I don't see a valid counterargument in your response? It's ironic that, on a site where the UNIX philosophy is widely appreciated, that so many fail to appreciate the wisdom of the old quote "UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things.". So too, with Alex Jones, MLK, and freedom of speech.
  - harrumph 8y ago
    >I don't see a valid counterargument in your response? Yes, there is much you do not see. >UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things because that would also stop you from doing clever things. You've employed another ridiculous comparison by failing to notice that the "you" in this quote is root. Users of UNIX are every day all day prevented from doing stupid things. Try, please, to remain planted on the ground of this planet, concerned with its history.