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Thomas Jefferson Letter on Censorship (1814)
- Alupis 6y ago> It is an insult to our citizens to question whether they are rational beings or not, and blasphemy against religion to suppose it cannot stand the test of truth and reason. If M. de Becourt's book be false in its facts, disprove them; if false in its reasoning, refute it. But, for God's sake, let us freely hear both sides, if we choose. Interesting thoughts for such an early time. We seem to have wandered quite far from this mindset. Today, if we disapprove of an idea, we must stamp it out. It is not good enough to simply refute or disprove a position or idea, and engage in spirited debate. Today, no person is allowed to think out loud thoughts that might conflict with another's. We cannot trust the population to form informed opinions all on their own, based on spirited public debates. Jefferson is specifically referencing a religious book in this letter - however the overall notion survives religion, and applies to all thoughts in general.
- dr-detroit 6y agoHow could a typical citizen of the united states ever compete with Fa Loon Gong billionaire aristocrats sending fake newspapers to my literal physical mailbox and bombarding me and my neighbors' Youtube and Facebook with news flavored ads? The marketplace of ideas is locked in Facebook and to a lesser extent tiny ad slots on TV, Youtube, or any media you have enough money to sponsor. I'm just a guy who doesn't want to go to war to help a bunch of scumbags how am I allowed to refute these peoples disingenuous saber rattling? I cant so we banned them from at least facebook (for now).