Originally Posted by pylon
I don't see Musk as the big bad wolf as the Ultra left does. In fact, I believe once the histrionics stop and the dust settles, Twitter will be better for it. The absolute hypocrisy that we keep hearing "Without censorship, democracy will fail!" is so out of touch with what democracy actually is, it's mind numbing.
I believe fully and completely in free speech, right up to hateful and racist speech. Inciting violence, murder or criminal activity is where the line should be drawn. But saying "I hate (insert slur)" shouldn't be a crime. Society will judge that individual, throttle their opportunities and tarnish their image as adequate punishment. Look what's happening to Kanye West. We didn't need laws to punish his vitriol. Kanye could have backed down and thoughtfully apologized. He didn't, and now he's paying the price. And an uncensored platform is what outed him and lead to his downfall. Kinda neat how that works. Isn't it? Donald Trump lost the election, and he wasn't booted off Twitter until after he lost. He was free to spew his nonsense, and it contributed to his downfall. I'd say that's another win for free speech.
I've lost count on how many people I've corrected on Jew slurs over the years in my presence. Instead of 'cancelling' them, or firing them, I'll simply say. "Hey man, I'm Jewish, not nice...." They apologize, that's the end of it, and we clink glasses in an unspoken agreement that doesn't happen around me again. Someone actually learned a little lesson and just might be better for it, without their life being ruined, and their rights infringed upon. And I've had my share of offsides in relation to other cultures. And learned a valuable lesson without losing it all as well.
Will some feelings get hurt? Sure. But Western Societies biggest handicap in my opinion, and what has weakened it more than anything, is how we have absolutely lost the ability to accept criticism or dust off insults and we are trying to control free thought and free speech as a result. We once had skin as thick as an alligator and had the ability to be offended without a tribunal. Now, you can't even point out factual data if it in anyway singles out a marginalized group or individual.
I would rather know who the lunatics are and allow them to out themselves to be judged by society, than be forced to crawl off into these dark little corners and spew their crap amongst like minded individuals, that won't put them in their place or correct them. People aren't dumb. The majority of people are reasonable. And will call BS for what it is. For the 10% that lie on the extreme ends of the spectrum... both sides, no amount of censorship, rationalization or laws will stop them from guzzling their Kool-Aid flavor of choice by the gallon. At least we get to see who's lining up at the Kool-aid bong. Even better, once in a blue moon, you can talk a little sense into these people should you be patient enough.
The pendulum almost always swings back, and by almost all indications, there seems to be an appetite for it to swing back to a little more of a non-politically correct environment, as opposed to this hyper-correct cancel culture we've been living in the last decade or so. You are seeing it on both sides of the spectrum, and it's why you are likely seeing a red wave coming in the mid terms. I am seeing people around me that have always been planted on the deep left, even saying it's gone too far. Something I never thought I'd see.
We have to allow people to have an opposing view. Ugly or not. There need to be a Ying to every Yang. If you attempt to control and censor speech based on only the agenda of one side, you've cracked open the door just enough for it to be kicked off the hinges, and now you have your text messages monitored. Phone calls monitored by AI. Speech against the Government becomes a Jailable offense..... I would rather put up with a few morons spewing racist hate, and election lies, than have my speech and ultimately my thoughts censored or controlled by any entity, be it a social media platform, or the Government. And it is happening elsewhere in the world. You have social media platforms that are doubling as cat meme generators, and government speech control operatives.
Musk is a but of an eccentric weirdo. But he is a generally logical weirdo. And I believe in a year or two, Twitter will be better off and a lot more balanced.
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