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thanks for writing this. I had not considered how expressing hate speech can lead to a reduction in continued hate speech.

Mike Dilger ☑️ 1y ago

I didn't go into it but there are a lot of ways that expression hatred helps the situation:

1) Hatred bottled up eventually comes out either as violence or speech. I'd rather it be expressed via speech.

2) When people express their real feelings, that can serve as a warning to the rest of us. If I know you hate white men, I'll know to steer clear.

3) When people express feelings that are illogical, we become aware of their misconception and are given the chance to help them get a more nuanced and accurate understanding of a situation.

4) Sometimes we are wrong and they are right, which is ia general argument in favor of speech that is classified as disinformation. In these cases which we absolutely cannot determine apriori, the ONLY way we can be corrected is if we allow people to correct us by allowing them to speak.

I'm just scratching the surface here. John Stewart Mill does a pretty good job explaining all the ins and outs in "On Liberty"

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Discussion

Comte de Sats Germain 1y ago

And, in rare cases, some things actually are worth hating. Its good to hate human sacrifice. The problem isn't hate - the problem is knowing what you should hate. And that's subjective, but it doesn't matter because everyone has a right to be themselves.

Dawn 1y ago

Censorship pushes dangerous ideas underground where they thrive in darkness, leaving good but otherwise hurting people with no support system or intervention besides dangerous people. Dangerous people don't change. Good people heal. Most people are inherently good.

Sourcenode 1y ago

Yes 💜

ACCOUNT_DELETED 1y ago

I agree with your remarks about the healthy and productive process of confronting and melting publicly "right" and "wrong" ideas, as Stuart Mill explains.

And being totally against censorship, I find this matter quite complex, though.

Because we can see many times that hate speech doesnt come originally from "people" or communities, but from armed organizations, governments or ideological lobbies... in these cases the hate speech doesnt help the situation, but FUELS the conflict in order to better achieve the objectives, whether of an arms lobby from Washington or an Islamic Revolution from Tehran.

Anyway, if there is a solution, it should be more speech and more freedom !!

Mike Dilger ☑️ 1y ago

I agree.

In 1953 when the CIA and SIS used propaganda to help bolster the coup against Mosaddegh, Prime Minister of Iran under their first and only democratic government ever, Mossadegh refused to clamp down on the propaganda because he believed strongly in free speech.

Valentino Giudice 1y ago

Armed organizations, governments and ideological lobbies are not going to get fined or arrested. It's individuals among the people that are.