Hate speech

[Sean_Nile]

Lee Anderson and Mr Khan
Chants in the terrances
Personal pronouns
Homophobia Transphobia
Thought police and cancel culture
J. K. Rowling and Katie Hopkins
Palestinian protest, genocide, antisemitism

Scotland will try to introduce a hate speech law, where Scotland goes labour will follow, just think poll tax. If you are aggrieved by what anybody has said, you can report them to the police... and you could land in jail for seven years just for expressing your opinion.

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
~George Orwell

[Sara]

Oh good, more culture wars.

[Jaydog]

Having an opinion = 7 years in prison.
There’ll be some life sentences on MOT then

[Sara]

It's just divide and rule. Keep people arguing about this s**t instead of directing their attention to the actual structures of power.

Sticking up for minorities doesn't mean nobody can say anything, but neither does it mean that bigoty types shouldn't expect to be called out for being a twat.

It works both ways.

[Sean_Nile]

Oh good, more culture wars.

What if the police came after someone who suggested placing a splintered bit of wood inside another person's body cavity?

Would they be so dismissive of culture wars if the laws impinged on their lives that they would suffer for expressing an opinion?

[Sara]

What if the police came after someone who suggested placing a splintered bit of wood inside another person's body cavity?

Would they be so dismissive of culture wars if the laws impinged on their lives that they would suffer for expressing an opinion?

I honestly think it's a deliberate distraction. There are far greater threats to liberty coming in the forms of digital surveillance, central digital currencies, total war, eventually leading to systemic collapse.

It's not a time to be fighting for the rights of fragile white men to continue making edgy remarks. It really isn't.

[Sean_Nile]

I honestly think it's a deliberate distraction. There are far greater threats to liberty coming in the forms of digital surveillance, central digital currencies, total war, eventually leading to systemic collapse.

It's not a time to be fighting for the rights of fragile white men to continue making edgy remarks. It really isn't.

The jagged splintered wood was memorable for the comic visuals that it conjured up, and when uttered probably no thought was given to digital surveillance or thought police, they we're said in the heat of the moment with no thought of corporatism, climate change or any other thing that makes up the "big picture".. just a simple opinion.

But we have seen that tweets written many years ago are now used to get people cancelled, lifestyles abandoned years ago are dragged up to condemn people in the present. Epstein's black book holds many names that people want to see prosecuted.

I don't think it is a good thing that laws can be passed to prosecute you for what you say or think.

[YorkshireSquare]

These days, you get arrested & thrown in jail if you say you're English don't you?

[CUSSIE01]

These days, you get arrested & thrown in jail if you say you're English don't you?

Good enough reason

[Sara]

The jagged splintered wood was memorable for the comic visuals that it conjured up, and when uttered probably no thought was given to digital surveillance or thought police, they we're said in the heat of the moment with no thought of corporatism, climate change or any other thing that makes up the "big picture".. just a simple opinion.

But we have seen that tweets written many years ago are now used to get people cancelled, lifestyles abandoned years ago are dragged up to condemn people in the present. Epstein's black book holds many names that people want to see prosecuted.

I don't think it is a good thing that laws can be passed to prosecute you for what you say or think.

The old order is dying. This is inevitable and necessary. It will attempt to cling on by moving towards totalising control in whichever areas of life it can. It will fail and collapse, and then whoever is still around will have the opportunity to do something new. This will happen, regardless of our opinions.

I will always prioritise freedom, but you have to pick your battles and choose where to place your energy. In a time of war, don't give your energy to the field of war. The culture stuff is just a social manifestation of deeper divisions, ruptures and power struggles. These will have to play out; you can't stop it or influence it that much.

The right to carry on with derogatory and discriminatory behaviour towards minorities is not a hill worth dying on. It's become a flashpoint because it suits those imposing their will for it to be so. Don't get caught into playing their game; you have to see the bigger picture at this time, or you just get played by reacting to whatever s**t you're fed.

That's my opinion, splintered sticks notwithstanding.

[Irish Ian]

These days, you get arrested & thrown in jail if you say you're English don't you?

Only in an ideal world

[Sean_Nile]

to whatever s**t you're fed.

That's my opinion, splintered sticks notwithstanding.

About the time of the Covid wars the US government interfered in the social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to actively police any narrative that went against government policy and mandates, and even today YouTube will put a warning against videos that do not follow the CDC party line... NHS nurses who refused the jab were sacked, the Professor who wrote the Great Barrington report was sacked from Stanford.

Companies have been formed to be fact checkers and any voices in disagreement have to be silenced. Social media is awash with misinformation and conspiracy theories and you tend to accept or reject them according to your own political leanings.

Last night I watched "20 days in Mariupol" which showed shocking scenes of a hospital being bombed and a pregnant woman who was bleeding been stretched out. The Russian representative to the UN said the whole video was fabricated and all the people in it were actors. Seems the news is being manipulated and you can't trust the evidence of your own eyes.

When questions are asked about excess deaths in the UK, the statisticians come up with a new algorithm to prove it is not so bad... Data being manipulated to fit the political narrative.

Sometimes I feel the wool is being pulled over my eyes. When the next big pandemic occurs from disease X the World Health Organization wants to bypass the sovereignty off each country and mandate what prophylactic measures should be put in place and no dissenting voices will be tolerated.

Does that cover the big picture or can it be classified as misinformation, Russophobia, conspiracy theories and hate speech or just my opinion?

[Sara]

About the time of the Covid wars the US government interfered in the social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to actively police any narrative that went against government policy and mandates, and even today YouTube will put a warning against videos that do not follow the CDC party line... NHS nurses who refused the jab were sacked, the Professor who wrote the Great Barrington report was sacked from Stanford.

Companies have been formed to be fact checkers and any voices in disagreement have to be silenced. Social media is awash with misinformation and conspiracy theories and you tend to accept or reject them according to your own political leanings.

Last night I watched "20 days in Mariupol" which showed shocking scenes of a hospital being bombed and a pregnant woman who was bleeding been stretched out. The Russian representative to the UN said the whole video was fabricated and all the people in it were actors. Seems the news is being manipulated and you can't trust the evidence of your own eyes.

When questions are asked about excess deaths in the UK, the statisticians come up with a new algorithm to prove it is not so bad... Data being manipulated to fit the political narrative.

Sometimes I feel the wool is being pulled over my eyes. When the next big pandemic occurs from disease X the World Health Organization wants to bypass the sovereignty off each country and mandate what prophylactic measures should be put in place and no dissenting voices will be tolerated.

Does that cover the big picture or can it be classified as misinformation, Russophobia, conspiracy theories and hate speech or just my opinion?

Yes, that covers the big picture. As I said, we're heading towards a totalising system, a global digital police state, or however you want to describe it. The question is how do you choose to resist, and what damage limitation is possible. Choose your battles carefully is all.

[WhiteRose]

fragile white men to continue making edgy remarks. It really isn't.

Therein lies the problem - what is edgy? Is it fixed? Does it change, can something reasonable today be edgy tomorrow? Who decides what’s right?

A few years ago anyone could say a man cant be a woman yet now it’s blasphemy of the highest order. You quickly stigmatize the opinions of large swathes of society (not just white men) who in the main keep their mouths shut whilst those who dare to speak out are vilified and receive abuse and death threats from those oh so peaceful and caring folk with the “right opinion”. now the police are involved as well who already seem desperate to show how relevant they are, far more fastidious to act on wrong speak than they ever were to combat anti social behavior or burglary .

Does this seem like a healthy way to be? Seems dystopian to me but as long as the liberals are driving the agenda I’m sure it’s harmless enough eh.

[Sara]

Therein lies the problem - what is edgy? Is it fixed? Does it change, can something reasonable today be edgy tomorrow? Who decides what’s right?

A few years ago anyone could say a man cant be a woman yet now it’s blasphemy of the highest order. You quickly stigmatize the opinions of large swathes of society (not just white men) who in the main keep their mouths shut whilst those who dare to speak out are vilified and receive abuse and death threats from those oh so peaceful and caring folk with the “right opinion”. now the police are involved as well who already seem desperate to show how relevant they are, far more fastidious to act on wrong speak than they ever were to combat anti social behavior or burglary .

Does this seem like a healthy way to be? Seems dystopian to me but as long as the liberals are driving the agenda I’m sure it’s harmless enough eh.

It's an absolute mess, for sure... rapid social change at a time when social institutions, as well as our means of evaluating truth and meaning, have lost their credibility and authority.

I don't think 'progressivism' or liberalism is harmless; not because it seeks to give equal rights to fringe groups, but because it's built on the Enlightenment myth of progress as ever increasing human control over the environment, and the 'perfecting' of society through ever increasing levels of state intervention and micromanagement.

Conservatism isn't harmless either - seeking to return to what feels like safe ground through nationalism, and rigid and outdated social roles and systems, can never be the answer, except in the minds of the unimaginative and the insecure. We aren't going back to an idealised myth of 1950s England where Britain ruled the world, and everyone was white, straight, and knew their place in society and purpose in life.

The culture war is nonsense because it pits two 'sides' against each other that are both wrong, in different ways. Nobody wins... there is no possible outcome where one side triumphs at the expense of the other, it just feeds deeper and deeper division focused on issues that really are peripheral at best. It's a proxy for something else; the attempt of a dying order to cling onto power through manipulation and division.

To me it seems obvious that the compassionate and just thing is to support, protect and include marginalised people. It is better for everyone that we are no longer as racist, homophobic, sexist etc. It also seems obvious that the wrong way to do that is through increased state control and policing; that is never the answer either.

If what you oppose is increasing authoritarianism, then oppose that directly; don't do it in a proxy where, yet again, it's the most vulnerable people who get caught in the crossfire.

[WhiteRose]

To me it seems obvious that the compassionate and just thing is to support, protect and include marginalised people. It is better for everyone that we are no longer as racist, homophobic, sexist etc. It also seems obvious that the wrong way to do that is through increased state control and policing; that is never the answer either.

This is the crux of the matter really. And it’s far more complex than uttering a few supportive words. you can’t de marginalise one group at the expense of marginalizing another and you should always be able to question the merits of inclusion without being labelled a bigot or phobic.

look at female sport, most women do not want trans people in women’s sport. they accept and possibly support trans people but they don’t want to include them for very obvious reasons - they dare not speak out about it though for being incorrectly labeled as phobic - how then can you have a proper debate about it and ensure the right course of action is taken?

[Sara]

This is the crux of the matter really. And it’s far more complex than uttering a few supportive words. you can’t de marginalise one group at the expense of marginalizing another and you should always be able to question the merits of inclusion without being labelled a bigot or phobic.

look at female sport, most women do not want trans people in women’s sport. they accept and possibly support trans people but they don’t want to include them for very obvious reasons - they dare not speak out about it though for being incorrectly labeled as phobic - how then can you have a proper debate about it and ensure the right course of action is taken?

I don't know, but I see that going both ways as well - people who are clearly phobic jumping on a bandwagon to push their agenda. Again, at root, I think it's a question of power; who has the power to define and label others in ways which accord or deny them equal status and rights.

The starting point is anything but a level playing field, so I can understand why people who have always been denied and excluded are keen to establish their position. Maybe they wouldn't have to shout so loudly to do that if they weren't constantly faced with the phobic response, and didn't have the weight of history against them.

Each generation seems to have its particular frontline issue; race, sex, sexuality, gender. The protagonists may change, but the arguments from both sides seem remarkably similar. Then another generation goes by, everyone moves on, and common sense eventually prevails.

If that's not happening this time, it's because the whole thing has been weaponised as a proxy, as I suggested.

[Prisoner37]

Lee Anderson and Mr Khan
Chants in the terrances
Personal pronouns
Homophobia Transphobia
Thought police and cancel culture
J. K. Rowling and Katie Hopkins
Palestinian protest, genocide, antisemitism

Scotland will try to introduce a hate speech law, where Scotland goes labour will follow, just think poll tax. If you are aggrieved by what anybody has said, you can report them to the police... and you could land in jail for seven years just for expressing your opinion.

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
~George Orwell

As somebody said; Orwell's1984 was meant to be a warning not a template.

[Jaydog]

Seems either this or the recycling thread would do but just saw that interview with Vinicius Jr.
What an awful thing racism is.
Absolutely no idea what that must feel like.
I remember seeing a programme a few years ago that said in effect all white people are racist to some degree. They are predisposed to be racist.

[BradWhite]

Who was it that said "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything"
If people tolerate it then they are part of the problem.

I see/hear things on a daily basis that makes me wonder how civilisation made it this far, because it seems that everyone is offended by something mainly what the media tells them to be offended by.

Try having a conversation regarding gender (the new box ticking fad) that there are more than one sex, more than one gender which I think is anti science and anti biology but I'm not allowed to hold that opinion - hmmm.

OK then I added, Let's change LGBTQ+ to LGBTQHC+.
If we want to not be bigoted and be truly inclusive then we need the H for heterosexual and C for closeted.

Maybe add an extra T for 'trade' as well. So then that would be fair and would just mean EVERYBODY.

Oh - I guess that makes a massive nonsense of the whole issue - right?

Never mind - at least we'll all look like we're doing the RIGHT thing.

Clown world.