2 ms·

Those examples are completely inoccuous to my sensibilities. Of course, there are plenty of countries that lack the broad speech protections Americans enjoy, bu

by istjohn 10mo ago

Those examples are completely inoccuous to my sensibilities. Of course, there are plenty of countries that lack the broad speech protections Americans enjoy, but one doesn't expect such curtailments of personal liberty in a fellow English-speaking western "liberal" democracy.

fao_ 10mo ago
The first example was "man arrested for wearing the exact same outfit as a man who intentionally blew himself up, killing 22 people". It's not "he was wearing the same chequered shirt!" either. As a UK citizen... I don't see how that fits under "free speech", lol Even with "freedom of speech", you do not have "freedom from fascism" built into that, case in point, Wikipedia has multiple pages documenting both the current US administration's attitude towards trans people (that, in Charlie Kirk's words, we are "abominations unto god" that should be "taken care of" "as in the 50s/60s", which can only be taken to mean lynching), as well as the attitude of the US presidency towards democracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_transgender_people_under_the_second_Trump_administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_transgender_peo... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeting_of_political_opponents_and_civil_society_under_the_second_Trump_administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeting_of_political_opponen... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14290 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14290 (were PBS and NPR "biased"?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_backsliding_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_backsliding_in_the_... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/25/transgender-americans-are-seeing-a-wave-of-hate-unleashed-by-charlie-kirks-killing https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/25/transg...
- ipaddr 10mo ago
  Freedom to choose clothing wouldn't fall under any version of freedom of speech? I would would work with your fellow citizens to change that.
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - fao_ 10mo ago
    I think the issue here isn't "freedom of speech", its that people who claim to want "freedom for speech" are either using it as a shield to say vile things to other people, or they feel that "freedom of speech" is the only thing one needs to guard against fascism. The resulting difficulty is that the former is demonstrably true, and the former is demonstrably false.

by istjohn 10mo ago

fao_ 10mo ago

The first example was "man arrested for wearing the exact same outfit as a man who intentionally blew himself up, killing 22 people". It's not "he was wearing the same chequered shirt!" either. As a UK citizen... I don't see how that fits under "free speech", lol Even with "freedom of speech", you do not have "freedom from fascism" built into that, case in point, Wikipedia has multiple pages documenting both the current US administration's attitude towards trans people (that, in Charlie Kirk's words, we are "abominations unto god" that should be "taken care of" "as in the 50s/60s", which can only be taken to mean lynching), as well as the attitude of the US presidency towards democracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_transgender_people_under_the_second_Trump_administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_transgender_peo... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeting_of_political_opponents_and_civil_society_under_the_second_Trump_administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeting_of_political_opponen... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14290 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14290 (were PBS and NPR "biased"?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_backsliding_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_backsliding_in_the_... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/25/transgender-americans-are-seeing-a-wave-of-hate-unleashed-by-charlie-kirks-killing https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/25/transg...

ipaddr 10mo ago
Freedom to choose clothing wouldn't fall under any version of freedom of speech? I would would work with your fellow citizens to change that.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- fao_ 10mo ago
  I think the issue here isn't "freedom of speech", its that people who claim to want "freedom for speech" are either using it as a shield to say vile things to other people, or they feel that "freedom of speech" is the only thing one needs to guard against fascism. The resulting difficulty is that the former is demonstrably true, and the former is demonstrably false.