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I think they're misunderstanding the difference between freedom of speech and not having any negative consequences accruing to you for said speech. Yes, we all

by jgeada 6y ago

I think they're misunderstanding the difference between freedom of speech and not having any negative consequences accruing to you for said speech. Yes, we all agree that government must not censor speech. However, all us other individuals and non-government organizations are certainly free to decide who to associate with and who not to associate with. You are free to say whatever stupid shit you want in public, but the rest of us are well within our rights to ostracize you, fire you, etc as a consequence of learning that you, due to your free speech, are an ignorant/repulsive/racist/evil person.

phreeza 6y ago
That is the legal situation, but the question then arises if it is desirable for a society to develop in the direction where such ostracisms happen a lot. I think there is an argument to be made that speech which is overly constrained by societal norms at some point would lead to similar negative consequences as speech constrained by the government. I am not saying that we are anywhere close to that point, but it think it is an important point to keep in mind.
ThrowawayR2 6y ago
> "...any negative consequences accruing to you for said speech..." I see this argument all the time but it's pretty clear that progressives would be livid if an organization/business chose to impose "negative consequences" on one of their won for their progressive beliefs. Quite a double standard.