Comment by phoe-krk | Hacker News Reader

Comment by phoe-krk | Hacker News Reader

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> People have traded freedom for convenience over the past couple of decades and it shows.

I'd argue the completely other way: people have traded convenience for freedom. The convenience of using the Internet for has massively eroded freedom of speech.

It's been immensely convenient for tens of thousands of people to be able to say any kind of harmful trash on the Internet without suffering any negative consequences and that's what they have been doing for years now, and so now we all pay the price.

The term "freedom of speech" has been appropriated by alt-right and modern Nazi movements and is now associated almost strictly with, which means that it is now feasible to call this freedom a real and actual risk to human life and take real steps towards curbing that freedom in general, even for people who are not abusing it to actively work towards harming other people.

Another problem is the term 'harm' (just like 'freedom of speech') has also been poisoned by those on the left who would have you believe words are more dangerous than actual violence.

When actual discussions and conversations cannot take place under the guise of pretend harm, real violence happens.

I do wholeheartedly believe the attack on the capitol is just the result of a disenfranchised part of the population who've been shit on and deplatformed for the last 4 years by the establishment (including Orange Man, FWIW).

I wholeheartedly believe the attack on the capitol is the result of racism and hatred being spewed unchecked on Twitter and Facebook (and other smaller platforms). The loudness and accessibility of it worked to recruit susceptible people building a small group of angry people into a movement.

If anything, the problem is that they weren't deplatformed early enough.

What I find scary and disheartening is that people have to use throwaway accounts to even point this out.

Using a throwaway for anything political is just safer. I can comfortably talk about this with friends or colleagues, but I wouldn't broadcast it to the whole world with my name attached.

Well said

Thank you.

If you do not believe that words cause actual harm, then you don't know anyone who's been in an emotionally abusive relationship.

There is no shortage of women with PTSD from such relationships who've spent the past four years continuously triggered because Trump acted just like an abusive boyfriend or husband, and it was difficult to avoid him on the news or on social media.

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