13

Should evil be free to speak?

Posted by Solver 6 years, 6 months ago to Philosophy
118 comments | Share | Best of... | Flag

“The communists and the Nazis are merely two variants of the same evil notion: collectivism. But both should be free to speak—evil ideas are dangerous only by default of men advocating better ideas.”
- Ayn Rand


All Comments


Previous comments...   You are currently on page 4.
  • Posted by Dobrien 6 years, 6 months ago
    Free speech allows for an accurate assessment judgement on a persons true character.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You just described the problem with the term, “hate speech.”
    The extreme left would like it to also mean speaking the wrong pronoun.
    The extreme right might use it to also mean using God’s name in vain.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by walkabout 6 years, 6 months ago
    Yes. Broadcast for all to hear the vapid, dangerous ideas of those who would be king. Broadcast,too the rebuttal to the ideas that would reduce individuals to only inconsequential specks within the collective. Maybe one of the hallmarks of evil is that it does not want to compete for the minds of people; that it will censor those who would have alternative ideas.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by MinorLiberator 6 years, 6 months ago
    Before reading other comments:

    Absolutely correct. Both on no difference between communists and Nazis, and that both should be free to speak their evil ideas

    Because then question becomes “Who then controls the ‘evil’ speech”?

    Only The State can do that, and since the statement implies that speech is not currently censored, it must be some kind of democracy.

    So what happens when the majority changes?

    Imagine the Far Left, or the Conservative right, changing the rules defining “evil speech”. based on which populist majority dominated the last election.

    Meet the new boss. He’s the same as the old boss.

    We’d be screwed either way.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by starznbarz 6 years, 6 months ago
    Absolutely. Free speech is especially for speech most folks would disagree with. The ones that hide their true agenda - like Obama, are the real danger to the Republic.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by DrZarkov99 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The reason many Trump backers put up with his aggravating tweets and mannerisms is the fact that he actually is pushing to achieve the policy goals he set out during his campaign, which is such a novelty. People who are shocked and aghast with his decision to pull out of Syria should remember before he was elected he promised to hammer the hell out of ISIS and then leave the Middle East. Populists, who actually try to give the electorate what they ask for, are the enemy of the established political order.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by LibertyBelle 6 years, 6 months ago
    Yes. Or I should say, people should be free to advocate evil. If they actually violate someone's rights, time enough to interfere when they cross the line.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by strugatsky 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Why did you have respect for Obama? Actually, this is a serious question. What actions of his caused you to have respect for him?
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by strugatsky 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Of course, they would present their ideas as good. Getting rid of the Jews would be good for the Reich; the government making decisions for your welfare is good for you...We always hope that the citizens would be intelligent enough to see through the lies and be able to use logic. They are not.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by BCRinFremont 6 years, 6 months ago
    All speech must be free because, if it is not, the people in power (or those who have the strongest voice or the broadest reach) will define speech according to their beliefs and all others will be silenced...
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Back then there were many that thought fascism sounded great. State and business work together as a single collective identity toward the greater good. The state promotes the best to be better. Conflict keeps society strong. Many rods tied together do not bend.
    Stronger together and all.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by GaryL 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I believe they have a term for that which would be considered Hate Speech, Brain Washed.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    i think you are right actually. Todays open-ness is more of emotional manipulation however. The leftists lie and people get wooed by the emotion of it and get taken in . You can keep your doctor and your plan once obamacare comes in- yeah right..

    Today, I believe almost nothing at all from government people. I just wait till I see what they do in order to decide what they meant. Unfortunately, they know its too late as they usually pass the law with a delay before its implemented.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by strugatsky 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The Nazis were very open about their intentions. They wrote and spoke about them constantly. No one wanted to believe it. American Leftists are also open about their ideas. Again, people don’t want to believe it. Obama’s speech in 2007, at a college, was a direct translation of Lenin. No one wanted to believe it.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by strugatsky 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Agree with you, except for a minor difference - I would not “shout from the rooftops” for Obama’s right to speak. I would not impede him, but not help him either.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I will guess they get it in 2020 with Beto O'rourke as president, and maybe Ocasio-Cortez or Maxine Waters or Kamala Harris or Cory Booker as VP.

    i thought when I voted for Trump that we could stall out socialism for 4 years, but after that the dems would regroup with the "stronger together" leftists and win in 2020.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Rand might argue with the definition of hate speech used by leftists, and suggest that their definition is really the speech that the leftists use themselves THEY are they real haters.

    There is only SPEECH- the saying of words, and none of it should be banned. If more of what the Nazis said was said in the open, perhaps more germans would have seen how their ideas were indeed evil.

    Perhaps today if more people talked about how entitlement is feeding bad feelings about blacks, the blacks themselves would have more incentive to NOT force their entitlement on white people.

    Of course, that kind of talk would be labelled racist and "hate speech"
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Absolutely- one doesnt need free speech protected if the only things that are said are the commonly accepted things.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I would postulate that its not the "result" of socialism in practice that the leftists are concerned about. Its the "feeling" of everyone being "stronger together" that they really want for as long as it might last (which isnt long in practice). When it fails, just look at how it could be done differently and try THAT.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I think that it was common sense and factual arguments that got Trump elected, and it was emotional manipulation that vaulted Hillary to her heights. This time, emotional manipulation lost, fortunately.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Its hard to have a rational basis for "evil". In my experience evil is backed up only by emotional manipulative "arguments"
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I had a very emotionally manipulative mother. I learned quickly how to tune out the manipulation part of it, and that has helped me immensely in later life. I would wish that others would learn how to detune emotional manipulation that the left constantly bombards us with, and just stick to the facts and rational arguments.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 6 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I would vote to cut taxpayer funding for all public schools of all levels and see how they fare in the real marketplace.. Let public schools be funded by contributions only.
    Reply | Permalink  

  • Comment hidden. Undo