"For those who stubbornly seek freedom, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the system of 'brainwashing under freedom' to which we are subjected and in which all too often we serve as unwilling instruments."
-- Noam Chomsky, ICH
Unfortunately, Noam Chomsky is a die-hard totalitarian socialist, who is definitely against freedom of speech for anyone who doesn't agree with him. So, take any quotes from him with a LARGE grain of salt. He is one of the Left's main indoctrinators.
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 854 85.4%
QUOTE |
As a matter of principle, I support this law [subsection 13.1 of the Canadian Human Rights Act]. Hate messages should not be protected expression. Indeed, they are an attempt to silence the free expression of others by removing their individuality. At its heart, I believe that freedom of expression, and the entire Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is about protecting the individual. People who attempt to use their individual rights to remove the individual rights of others should not be surprised when they end up on the wrong side of the law. |
International Level: Politician / Political Participation: 109 10.9%
That is a great point. According to Canadian law, any condemnation of homosexuality, even from (or perhaps especially from) a religious point of view, is considered hate speech.
The organization of Muslim states (whatever it is called) is constantly pushing for the United Nations to include the idea that "denigration" of religion be considered a hate crime and punishable by the world court. Of course, denigration is defined such that anyone who says they don't believe Muhammad was a prophet is contributing to hate speech.
The very concept of "hate speech" is one of the biggest attacks on free speech in the world right now. And, it is winning.
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 854 85.4%
"It is extremely dangerous to exercise the constitutional right of free speech in a country fighting to make democracy safe in the world...
These are the gentry who are today wrapped up in the American flag, who shout their claim from the housetops that they are the only patriots, and who have their magnifying glasses in hand, scanning the country for evidence of disloyalty, eager to apply the brand of treason to the men who dare to even whisper their opposition to Junker rule in the United Sates. No wonder Sam Johnson declared that "patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." He must have had this Wall Street gentry in mind, or at least their prototypes, for in every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the people...
Every solitary one of these aristocratic conspirators and would-be murderers claims to be an arch-patriot; every one of them insists that the war is being waged to make the world safe for democracy. What humbug! What rot! What false pretense! These autocrats, these tyrants, these red- handed robbers and murderers, the "patriots," while the men who have the courage to stand face to face with them, speak the truth, and fight for their exploited victims-they are the disloyalists and traitors. If this be true, I want to take my place side by side with the traitors in this fight.
-- Eugene V. Debs - The Canton, Ohio, Anti-War Speech. June 16, 1918
Brilliant: NY Senators trying to ban being a jerk
New York Senators are working on putting a ban in place that would essentially prohibit people from being a jerk online. To most people attempting to restrict free speech - even putrid free speech - is an obvious violation of the First Amendment. But not to this rowdy group of Senators, who believe the First Amendment is just too broad. Ref. Source 1