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Say what you will, but the U.S. puts up with a lot more than most countries. Be thankful for the freedoms you have and celebrate the freedom of others. Edit: N

Say what you will, but the U.S. puts up with a lot more than most countries. Be thankful for the freedoms you have and celebrate the freedom of others. Edit: Not sure why some went on the defensive. I never said you shouldn't fight to protect your own freedoms. Nor did I condemn anyone or anything. Is this really what we've been reduced to? In our search for freedom of speech we're squelching the voice of those who don't agree with us? Isn't that what you are aiming to fight?

tumult 16y ago
No, fight for your freedoms. Be thankful for them as an afterthought.
- jcromartie 16y ago
  Can we be thankful for them while we fight to defend them? What's wrong with that?
Calamitous 16y ago
> Be thankful for the freedoms you have I think this should be "Be thankful for and watchful of the freedoms you have..."
davi 16y ago
> Be thankful for the freedoms you have and fight for more. (Or at least donate money to others who will do some fighting for you.)
- sukuriant 16y ago
  Donating money is fighting. Financing the warriors helps the cause, sometimes more than one more weak warrior (read: a person that's not been fully informed of the nuances and "gotchas" of parts of the debate) could.
  - davi 16y ago
    Semantics of "fighting" vs. "supporting" aside, we agree that it's good to give money to organizations that advance freedom of the press.
    - sukuriant 16y ago
      Yes, very much so!
swombat 16y ago
The fact that it's better than some others is no reason to avoid condemning it when it fails to live up to its own standards. By this argument, we shouldn't complain about any abuses of government in the western, because a lot of countries do even worse to their citizens. That's a nice idea, but if it was really applied, the result would be that the western governments would soon be no better than others.
- abyssknight 16y ago
  I don't think I said we should avoid condemning it. Did I?
  - swombat 16y ago
    You said we should be thankful for what you have. That implied disagreement with the criticism of the US govt for this hypocritical stance. I suggest starting the post with something along the lines of "I agree that this stance is hypocritical, but ..." if you want to avoid conveying disagreement. It's less concise, but it gets the message across correctly!
ZeroMinx 16y ago
Yes, are worse countries, but the U.S claim to be pro free speech, land of the free and all that. The reactions from cablegate speak a very different language. The irony that this announcement happens right now is beyond belief! EDIT: Fix some stupid typos
- abyssknight 16y ago
  What reactions? I don't follow. What has the U.S. unilaterally done? The U.S. doesn't run Interpol, nor the companies which have been blacklisted by members of the community. Politicians have opinions, and due to free speech they are able to speak them.
  - blueben 16y ago
    Either you are feigning ignorance or you haven't been reading the news for a while. Politicians aren't just exercising free speech. They're exercising political influence to impose censorship, a blatant run-around of first amendment rights. They're also introducing obviously unconstitutional legislation and calling for assassination from their office.

tumult 16y ago

No, fight for your freedoms. Be thankful for them as an afterthought.

jcromartie 16y ago
Can we be thankful for them while we fight to defend them? What's wrong with that?

Calamitous 16y ago

> Be thankful for the freedoms you have I think this should be "Be thankful for and watchful of the freedoms you have..."

davi 16y ago

> Be thankful for the freedoms you have and fight for more. (Or at least donate money to others who will do some fighting for you.)

sukuriant 16y ago
Donating money is fighting. Financing the warriors helps the cause, sometimes more than one more weak warrior (read: a person that's not been fully informed of the nuances and "gotchas" of parts of the debate) could.
- davi 16y ago
  Semantics of "fighting" vs. "supporting" aside, we agree that it's good to give money to organizations that advance freedom of the press.
  - sukuriant 16y ago
    Yes, very much so!

swombat 16y ago

The fact that it's better than some others is no reason to avoid condemning it when it fails to live up to its own standards. By this argument, we shouldn't complain about any abuses of government in the western, because a lot of countries do even worse to their citizens. That's a nice idea, but if it was really applied, the result would be that the western governments would soon be no better than others.

abyssknight 16y ago
I don't think I said we should avoid condemning it. Did I?
- swombat 16y ago
  You said we should be thankful for what you have. That implied disagreement with the criticism of the US govt for this hypocritical stance. I suggest starting the post with something along the lines of "I agree that this stance is hypocritical, but ..." if you want to avoid conveying disagreement. It's less concise, but it gets the message across correctly!

ZeroMinx 16y ago

Yes, are worse countries, but the U.S claim to be pro free speech, land of the free and all that. The reactions from cablegate speak a very different language. The irony that this announcement happens right now is beyond belief! EDIT: Fix some stupid typos

abyssknight 16y ago
What reactions? I don't follow. What has the U.S. unilaterally done? The U.S. doesn't run Interpol, nor the companies which have been blacklisted by members of the community. Politicians have opinions, and due to free speech they are able to speak them.
- blueben 16y ago
  Either you are feigning ignorance or you haven't been reading the news for a while. Politicians aren't just exercising free speech. They're exercising political influence to impose censorship, a blatant run-around of first amendment rights. They're also introducing obviously unconstitutional legislation and calling for assassination from their office.