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Yeah this applies to nearly all of Europe IMO. Recent events show that the American Bill of Rights is definitely not a panacea, but at least there's some legal

Yeah this applies to nearly all of Europe IMO. Recent events show that the American Bill of Rights is definitely not a panacea, but at least there's some legal standing to push back against Orwellian measure like those put in place by the UK or the EU.

fogx 1y ago
yea right. Privacy is a fundamental right in the EU (GDPR, Charter of Fundamental Rights), while the U.S. legal system offers almost no general privacy protection. On top of that, the NSA has a long history of warrantless surveillance and backdoors (Snowden, PRISM), with very limited oversight. In practice, it’s far costlier to push mass privacy infringements in Europe than in the U.S.
- rdm_blackhole 1y ago
  > Privacy is a fundamental right in the EU (GDPR, Charter of Fundamental Rights) A fundamental right that is being challenged every 6 month or so for the last 3 years with the push for Chat Control. > In practice, it’s far costlier to push mass privacy infringements in Europe than in the U.S. Absolutely false. With the way the EU commissions work, all you need is to buy or lobby your way in single one place and then you can push for any agenda that you want.
- AdrianB1 1y ago
  Privacy does not exist in reality but in a very limited form. For example you can be stopped and identified on the street by a policemen in most EU countries with no reason, where is your privacy then? Also EU has a lot of rights on paper that don't exist in reality. Free speech? Come in my country, you can go to jail for speech, there are several ways, way too many. Rights to property? Good joke. What rights do we really have in EU? I don't know any.
tensor 1y ago
Given the current situation in the US, it's a huge cautionary tale for how not to do democracy. To non-ironically hold it up as an example at this point of time is truly amazing. No, the rest of us don't want current US style dictatorship in our countries. While the EU certainly has its issues, its protection of democracy is still one of the best in the world. Democracy is something we need to keep working towards. There is not one simple set of rules that will keep it healthy, at least as far as recently history shows.
- engineeringwoke 1y ago
  Could you describe with specific examples what qualifies the USA today as a "dictatorship"?
  - yibg 1y ago
    Executive orders to ban something explicitly deemed legal under the constitution by the supreme court? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/25/trump-flag-burning-executive-order https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/25/trump-flag-b...
    - engineeringwoke 1y ago
      Yeah, it's politics. He assumes it will get appealed to the supreme court who will take his side. I personally don't like the Texas v Johnson decision. Burning flags is un-American and should be illegal. How is that dictatorial?
      - shazbotter 1y ago
        It's an executive order that contravenes existing legislative and judicial precedent, sets penalties, and is expected to be unchallenged. It limits free speech by fiat because a single man wants it to be so. It's clearly dictatorial, you'll have to demonstrate why it's not an act of a single person dictating policy.
        engineeringwoke 1y ago
        Burning American flags is free speech? It's definitely an interpretation... and one that many legal scholars disagree with, similar to Roe v Wade. Not that repealing Roe v Wade was a good thing, but it didn't have a solid legal foundation. It's not all about getting your way... well maybe the better way to say it is that the left got their way, for sixty years. And some of those wins from that period for the left were built on shaky ground. There has to be give and take in any healthy political system.

fogx 1y ago

yea right. Privacy is a fundamental right in the EU (GDPR, Charter of Fundamental Rights), while the U.S. legal system offers almost no general privacy protection. On top of that, the NSA has a long history of warrantless surveillance and backdoors (Snowden, PRISM), with very limited oversight. In practice, it’s far costlier to push mass privacy infringements in Europe than in the U.S.

rdm_blackhole 1y ago
> Privacy is a fundamental right in the EU (GDPR, Charter of Fundamental Rights) A fundamental right that is being challenged every 6 month or so for the last 3 years with the push for Chat Control. > In practice, it’s far costlier to push mass privacy infringements in Europe than in the U.S. Absolutely false. With the way the EU commissions work, all you need is to buy or lobby your way in single one place and then you can push for any agenda that you want.
AdrianB1 1y ago
Privacy does not exist in reality but in a very limited form. For example you can be stopped and identified on the street by a policemen in most EU countries with no reason, where is your privacy then? Also EU has a lot of rights on paper that don't exist in reality. Free speech? Come in my country, you can go to jail for speech, there are several ways, way too many. Rights to property? Good joke. What rights do we really have in EU? I don't know any.

tensor 1y ago

Given the current situation in the US, it's a huge cautionary tale for how not to do democracy. To non-ironically hold it up as an example at this point of time is truly amazing. No, the rest of us don't want current US style dictatorship in our countries. While the EU certainly has its issues, its protection of democracy is still one of the best in the world. Democracy is something we need to keep working towards. There is not one simple set of rules that will keep it healthy, at least as far as recently history shows.

engineeringwoke 1y ago
Could you describe with specific examples what qualifies the USA today as a "dictatorship"?
- yibg 1y ago
  Executive orders to ban something explicitly deemed legal under the constitution by the supreme court? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/25/trump-flag-burning-executive-order https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/25/trump-flag-b...
  - engineeringwoke 1y ago
    Yeah, it's politics. He assumes it will get appealed to the supreme court who will take his side. I personally don't like the Texas v Johnson decision. Burning flags is un-American and should be illegal. How is that dictatorial?
    - shazbotter 1y ago
      It's an executive order that contravenes existing legislative and judicial precedent, sets penalties, and is expected to be unchallenged. It limits free speech by fiat because a single man wants it to be so. It's clearly dictatorial, you'll have to demonstrate why it's not an act of a single person dictating policy.
      - engineeringwoke 1y ago
        Burning American flags is free speech? It's definitely an interpretation... and one that many legal scholars disagree with, similar to Roe v Wade. Not that repealing Roe v Wade was a good thing, but it didn't have a solid legal foundation. It's not all about getting your way... well maybe the better way to say it is that the left got their way, for sixty years. And some of those wins from that period for the left were built on shaky ground. There has to be give and take in any healthy political system.