12 ms·

First they came for the cussers and swearers, but I didn't speak out because I don't cuss or swear. Then they came for the homophobes and cisgendered bigots, a

First they came for the cussers and swearers, but I didn't speak out because I don't cuss or swear. Then they came for the homophobes and cisgendered bigots, and I cheered them on, because I value diversity. Then they came for the conspiracy theorists, and I didn't speak out because I don't believe the reptoids are evil. Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out.

andylei 11y ago
the original poem is about how germans systematically eradicated entire racial and political groups. you're comparing it to a website that won't let you save certain content onto their servers.
- PopeOfNope 11y ago
  A website that, at the moment, retains a significant percentage of the entire free and open source software ecosystem. No, it's not quite as bad as genocide, but we're not suggesting putting anybody to death as a result either.
  - mattyhall 11y ago
    > No, it's not quite as bad as genocide > not quite Do you mean: not at all like genocide?
  - Retra 11y ago
    It retains that software using an open source software ecosystem. You can download git right now and start your own service.
  - golergka 11y ago
    It's not a government, it doesn't have a monopoly on violence or information. People use it freely, and they can easily get most of their information out (wikis and issues no, but it's obvious that they are not part of the repo when you start to use it). You can argue that it's bad, but for fuck's sake, don't compare it to a totalitarian regime that killed tens of millions of people. Please.
    - PopeOfNope 11y ago
      You can argue that it's bad, but for fuck's sake, don't compare it to a totalitarian regime that killed tens of millions of people. Please. Why not? Before it became official government policy to discriminate against jews in Germany, it was considered socially acceptable to do so. Those people voted in the totalitarian regime. Recognizing this as a first step towards greater atrocities is not out of line.
      - golergka 11y ago
        Actually, it was the other way around. Hitler came to power thanks to his strong-arm leader and despite his anti-semitism. His first efforts to create hate against jews were met with resistance from german society. It took several years of concentrated propaganda to change that. No sources ATM, posting from mobile.
- foota 11y ago
  I could be wrong, but I think that was intended as a joke.
- x1024 11y ago
  Censorship always starts small.
DanBC 11y ago
Your first line is wrong. This is not about swearing, it's about using a word that causes harm. > Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out. ...apart from the vast majority of people, because most people don't feel the need to use words like nigger or retard in their open source projects.
- lordfoom 11y ago
  So why should you be able to say nigger and retard on hacker news? Why stop at open source repos? Why not extend it to all forums and social media?
  - DanBC 11y ago
    You have to be careful in the way you use nigger or retard on HN. Calling other people a those will probably result in a comment killed by user flags. Repeated use will result in a shadow ban. Casual use of the word retard (not in the context of mechanisms) might see a few downvotes to poke people into more creative insults. Most people don't want to use such words and are glad they aren't used in normal conversation. They don't miss cross-burnings; they don't miss similarly violent words. This is probably a cultural thing. I live in the UK which does not have a free press and which does not have freedom of speech. Most UK citizens find the US position to be extreme. Most UK citizens don't worry about banning Westboro Baptist Church from protesting funerals. (And, again, this is assuming that Github has actually done something. They might not have; they might be ignoring all reports about the retard word and this is all a troll who faked an email.)
    - warkid 11y ago
      > Most people don't want to use such words and are glad they aren't used in normal conversation. They don't miss cross-burnings; they don't miss similarly violent words. Most people don't have this tradition of "cross-burning" in their past and therefore don't attach any negative/violent meaning to the "n-word".
      - deleted 11y ago
rmc 11y ago
You're right. This is just like the Holocaust.
- monstruoso 11y ago
  He didn't say that.
restalis 11y ago
"Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out." By then I'll probably fall into total submission already, so I'll most likely just trust their judgment that there must be something wrong with me.

andylei 11y ago

the original poem is about how germans systematically eradicated entire racial and political groups. you're comparing it to a website that won't let you save certain content onto their servers.

PopeOfNope 11y ago
A website that, at the moment, retains a significant percentage of the entire free and open source software ecosystem. No, it's not quite as bad as genocide, but we're not suggesting putting anybody to death as a result either.
- mattyhall 11y ago
  > No, it's not quite as bad as genocide > not quite Do you mean: not at all like genocide?
- Retra 11y ago
  It retains that software using an open source software ecosystem. You can download git right now and start your own service.
- golergka 11y ago
  It's not a government, it doesn't have a monopoly on violence or information. People use it freely, and they can easily get most of their information out (wikis and issues no, but it's obvious that they are not part of the repo when you start to use it). You can argue that it's bad, but for fuck's sake, don't compare it to a totalitarian regime that killed tens of millions of people. Please.
  - PopeOfNope 11y ago
    You can argue that it's bad, but for fuck's sake, don't compare it to a totalitarian regime that killed tens of millions of people. Please. Why not? Before it became official government policy to discriminate against jews in Germany, it was considered socially acceptable to do so. Those people voted in the totalitarian regime. Recognizing this as a first step towards greater atrocities is not out of line.
    - golergka 11y ago
      Actually, it was the other way around. Hitler came to power thanks to his strong-arm leader and despite his anti-semitism. His first efforts to create hate against jews were met with resistance from german society. It took several years of concentrated propaganda to change that. No sources ATM, posting from mobile.
foota 11y ago
I could be wrong, but I think that was intended as a joke.
x1024 11y ago
Censorship always starts small.

DanBC 11y ago

Your first line is wrong. This is not about swearing, it's about using a word that causes harm. > Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out. ...apart from the vast majority of people, because most people don't feel the need to use words like nigger or retard in their open source projects.

lordfoom 11y ago
So why should you be able to say nigger and retard on hacker news? Why stop at open source repos? Why not extend it to all forums and social media?
- DanBC 11y ago
  You have to be careful in the way you use nigger or retard on HN. Calling other people a those will probably result in a comment killed by user flags. Repeated use will result in a shadow ban. Casual use of the word retard (not in the context of mechanisms) might see a few downvotes to poke people into more creative insults. Most people don't want to use such words and are glad they aren't used in normal conversation. They don't miss cross-burnings; they don't miss similarly violent words. This is probably a cultural thing. I live in the UK which does not have a free press and which does not have freedom of speech. Most UK citizens find the US position to be extreme. Most UK citizens don't worry about banning Westboro Baptist Church from protesting funerals. (And, again, this is assuming that Github has actually done something. They might not have; they might be ignoring all reports about the retard word and this is all a troll who faked an email.)
  - warkid 11y ago
    > Most people don't want to use such words and are glad they aren't used in normal conversation. They don't miss cross-burnings; they don't miss similarly violent words. Most people don't have this tradition of "cross-burning" in their past and therefore don't attach any negative/violent meaning to the "n-word".
    - deleted 11y ago

rmc 11y ago

You're right. This is just like the Holocaust.

monstruoso 11y ago
He didn't say that.

restalis 11y ago

"Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out." By then I'll probably fall into total submission already, so I'll most likely just trust their judgment that there must be something wrong with me.