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This is sheer nonsense from the jump. No it's not. The basic point that was being quoted (from the NYT comment piece) was quite sensible actually. The OP aut
by akhmatova 5y ago
This is sheer nonsense from the jump.
No it's not. The basic point that was being quoted (from the NYT comment piece) was quite sensible actually.
The OP author then immediately falls into the semantic trap of "right to express oneself freely" == "First Amendment rights". They're not equivalent. They're overlapping and related obviously -- but nonetheless fundamentally different things.
My expectations that there might be something to this post dropped precipitously at the point, so that's where I stopped reading.
- hexane360 5y agoFor it to not be nonsense, you need to explain: a) How it's possible, even hypothetically for citizens to simultaneously have both "the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public" and "without fear of being shamed or shunned". The two are contradictory. b) How that superposition is "a fundamental right as citizens of a free country", which Americans once had but are losing.
- akhmatova 5y agoAs for a) - "nuance". As or b) - I don't see that there's some kind of grand superposition of opposites at play here like you do, so I'll largely pass. But more broadly: it seems beyond dispute that the the broader climate of public discourse has become more constrained and fear-driven in recent years. Not as bad as it's ever been, or compared to what certain groups have gone through. But compared to 20 or 30 years ago -- the mainstream climate has definitely deteriorated.