Quote:
Originally Posted by Original Position
Yes, I agree, there are lots of bad things that happen when you falsely call someone a bigot. However, I'm interested specifically in whether you think it is a suppression of free speech. The US Constitution guarantees free speech, I'm wondering if you think there is something unconstitutional going on here.
I don't know about law. I do know about moral values.
http://www.moralfoundations.org
It is strongly upsetting my natural sense of liberty, a core value. Most people share this value.
The accuser is using a controlling mechanism to suppress ideas from being entertained. This is oppression by any definition.
The problem is that they use a controlling mechanism that almost any innocent bystander de facto has to agree with.
No one likes racism. No one wants to be seen as racist.
This is why the mechanism works.
They can skew the debate then into the person having to defend against that accusation and not talk about whatever they wanted to talk about.
This gets tricky and frustrating.
For example, I genuinely think Angela Merkel's policy on the refugees was a very bad one.
I genuinely think social integration is a good thing and that true multiculturalism leads to divided communities that do not trust each other.
It is difficult to talk about these things without that alarm looming.
I say this as a highly educated chap who also knows how to be careful and circumspect when it matters.
But your old factory worker might have similar ideas but not be as well read or articulate. And there the alarm looms even more greatly because he might say the "wrong" thing in trying to make the same point.
And you see where this goes.
Not just this issue. Any issue.
For example, I oppose transgender toilets on pure utilitarian grounds. Try making the point without the accusation being thrown that you are also against transgender rights in general.
In practice, SJWs make real talk almost impossible. Because everything swings around to their core values of ... well calling people bigots whenever they can.