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I think it's Rosa Luxemburg who said "freedom is always the freedom of dissenters". I believe that's true, the problem is knowing who are the dissenters, as man
by p4bl0 7y ago
I think it's Rosa Luxemburg who said "freedom is always the freedom of dissenters". I believe that's true, the problem is knowing who are the dissenters, as many political groups want that label while many of them do not deserve it at all (obvious example: Trump presenting himself as an anti-system candidate).
- chrisco255 7y agoHuh? Freedom of speech is for everyone regardless of their label.
- mytailorisrich 7y agoThe quote means that freedom really exists when it applies to all, including those who disagree with the government/powerful/majority. I.e. the freedom of the dissenters is the measure of freedom in the group.
- mcv 7y agoExactly. The people in power, the dominant social group, etc, are rarely short in freedom. It's the people who don't fit in that are most at risk of losing their freedom. Of speech or otherwise.
- p4bl0 7y agoI think you misunderstand the quote. It says that the level of freedom in a given society is comparable to that of dissenters. Of course people who are in favor of the system and benefit from it will never be the one who are censored. But the fact that they are not censored is not a good measure of the freedom in that system.
- MaxBarraclough 7y agoRight, but non-controversial speech doesn't need protecting - there's no question of freedom there. Freedom of speech means the freedom to say things that other people wish you wouldn't say. Only controversial speech needs protecting, so in a sense, controversial speech is the only kind that freedom of speech is concerned with.