> criminalizing hate speech Hmm, this comment by bitwise seems really hateful against free speech protections. I propose that we throw them in jail to punish t

> criminalizing hate speech Hmm, this comment by bitwise seems really hateful against free speech protections. I propose that we throw them in jail to punish them for their hatred. /s > One of the things the Germans realized is that if you want to enjoy a functioning democracy, you must silence people who hold antidemocratic views well before they become too powerful to be stopped. No, you must get your act together and fix your country's problems so that duplicitous demagogues don't have a receptive audience of depesperate people who have lost trust in the system. Nazism would never have taken over Germany if it wasn't for the hyperinflation and economic disaster of the Weimar years, the Soviets would never have won in Russia if the Czars hadn't impoverished the Russian people with serfdom and war, Putin would not be in power today if Yeltsin hadn't let the oligarchs loot the Russian people in the 90s… After WWII, the US invested a fortune through the Marshall plan to rebuild Western Europe economically, that was the most impactful measure for stopping extremism. > Hint: the USA is not a democracy. It is an oligarchy of the power elite, formed by the power elite for that very purpose. The USA is a constitutional federal republic. It's far from perfect, but it is the freest, most prosperous, most technolgically advanced, and most socially mobile nation of comparable size in history. I wasn't born here, but I live here now and have no plans of leaving; when you know what the real oligarchies are like, it gives you some perspective. But, let's assume for the more moment that you are correct, and that the US really is run entirely by evil power-hungry oligarchs. Why in the world would you want to give them more power? Do you support the oligarchs?