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The US does. Most countries don't.
by PrimeMcFly 3y ago
The US does. Most countries don't.
- hef19898 3y agoAll democracies do, one way or the other.
- Scoundreller 3y agoPlenty of democracies with weak or highly overridable constitutions. Most of Canada’s is like that. Basically governments can suspend all of your “fundamental freedoms” for 5 year periods, renewed as often as they like.
- PrimeMcFly 3y agoNot to anywhere near the same extent. Meaning, not when it matters.
- immibis 3y agoThe US doesn't have free speech. It just deluded itself into thinking its version of unfree speech is either somehow not speech, or just doesn't count for some dumb reason or another. There are many things you can't say in the USA. The EU is just more upfront about its limitations. The EU says: Free speech is good, but some of it is dangerous so you can't have all of it, sorry. The US simply says: We have free speech. Then it arrests you for speaking anyway. Find something you can't say in the US, and ask a (sufficiently educated) American about it. They'll tell you it's not really free speech or it doesn't count or some nonsense like that, and that America has free speech. A (sufficiently educated) European will tell you it's one of the exceptions.
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago> The US doesn't have free speech. Oh, it absolutely does. It's really the only country that I would say absolutely does. No other country has free speech enshrined in it's constitution to the same extent, nor such a strong history of caselaw defending it. The US has a lot of problems, but as a people they are almost as zealous in defending free speech as they are in defending the 2nd amendment. In most other countries other concerns might take priority, but often and only in the US free speech will be the first consideration. > Find something you can't say in the US Anything can be said.
- immibis 3y ago> Anything can be said. Please, go to your local town square and hand out flyers about your plot to assassinate the President. Report back with your results. Oh, and I can predict your reply. You will tell me some excuse for why that isn't really speech, or it is speech but it shouldn't be free even in countries that have 100% free speech (which is a completely absurd argument, by the way - I must recommend you try the "that isn't speech" approach as at least that one isn't not an immediate formal contradiction).
- astrange 3y agoPeople like that often don't get arrested. At most the Secret Service will take note and make them stay home if there's a VIP anywhere nearby. There's lots of crazy people and we don't keep them in prisons anymore.