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For the record, "burn it to the ground" is a very common figure of speech on the left But if a right winger says exactly the same words they are to be taken li

For the record, "burn it to the ground" is a very common figure of speech on the left But if a right winger says exactly the same words they are to be taken literally? Are centrists allowed to say it? There is no reason not to take it as a threat of arson, or hate speech if you prefer. Words have meanings. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, that’s another very common figure of speech.

bscphil 7y ago
> But if a right winger says exactly the same words they are to be taken literally? No. Everyone is allowed to say it, unless it's clear from the context that they are literally threatening violence. In this case, quite the opposite is true. The author of that statement says in the next paragraph that they want the powerful people at MIT turned out if necessary to get rid of Stallman. > Remove everyone, if we must, and let something much better be built from the ashes. I mean, come on, the person who said this was a real threat against MIT wasn't serious. Surely you can admit that.