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There are people who would put Das Kapital the same category of unacceptable speech as others would Mein Kampf. You have no right to quarantine information lik
by fromthestart 7y ago
There are people who would put Das Kapital the same category of unacceptable speech as others would Mein Kampf.
You have no right to quarantine information like you would a virus, because there is no way to agree on which information is "bad". Further, even overall hateful or dangerous content can have meritful parts - not everything Hitler said or did, for example, was unreasonable or evil.
Another example, what about the Unabomber Manifesto? Yeah, he was a terrorist and he wrote some arguably hateful things about liberalism/leftism, but there was also a wealth of thoughtful observations regarding the human condition in his work.
All information should be free for study by anyone.
- JulianMorrison 7y agoAnd they would be wrong. Liberation literature is not in the same category as hate screeds. I don't buy the moral abdication you're selling. You know what's evil - it's the stuff full of race hate and misogyny. There is no moral equivalence.
- hnaccy 7y agoWould a pamphlet against immigration be allowed? Would a pamphlet against abortion be allowed? Would a pamphlet against [Islam|Christianity| Judaism|Hinduism] be allowed? Would a pamphlet against Israel be allowed? Would a pamphlet against affirmative action be allowed?
- DuskStar 7y ago> Liberation literature is not in the same category as hate screeds. Just as one man's Freedom Fighter is another's Terrorist, this really depends on perspective. Das Kapital is kinda negative about capital holders, after all. > You know what's evil - it's the stuff full of race hate and misogyny. There is no moral equivalence. Is it all the stuff full of racial hatred and mistreatment of women? Because you're going to have a hell of a time banning the Torah, Bible and Koran - to say nothing of other religious texts.
- journalctl 7y agoIt’s amazing how if you try to make a progressive political point here, you tend to get criticized. But when it comes time to judge the morality of things like racism or misogyny, suddenly it’s impossible to know the morality of any idea ever.
- lolinder 7y agoPeople aren't arguing that racism and misogyny are moral, they're arguing that if you allow any censorship at all, then someone must be appointed censor, and you may not agree with that someone. The only way to be sure that your ideas can be freely expressed is to allow everyone, no matter how immoral, to freely express their ideas.
- tenaciousDaniel 7y agoI don't know your politics but I'm going to assume you're progressive. There's an argument I've heard from many progressive activists, which basically states that the impact of your words/actions outweighs your intent. Assuming you agree with this, then why is Das Kapitall less dangerous/hateful/offensive/objectionable than Mein Kampf? The death toll is 50-80 million people from each book individually. That's the impact. Are you saying that the intent should be considered more important here? If so, why?
- TX-i 7y agoAgreed. We watched Google slowly change its search algorithms to condition certain information you receive, archive.org is the least problem in the age of "misinformation". Why is Trump mentioned in this article? Level 1 scapegoating right here. This is a vile attack on technology and your personal freedom.