'The Constitution is not a suicide pact'
Freedom of speech is skeptical power: it is always a challenge. And it affirms truth: it is always a search. Without skepticism of power and affirmation of truth, we will not have freedom of speech. The me speakers push us to embrace their power and treat everything they say as truth. They will call this “free speech.”
Timothy Snyder • Free Speech and Me Speech
David Abbott
David’s Determinist Substack
1d
The “speech is violence” frame is a loaded gun pointed at everyone. If hateful speech is itself a form of violence, then Charlie Kirk — who spent years saying things like “the Civil Rights Act was a huge mistake” and warning that Muslims were “conquering Europe” — was, by that definition, committing... See more
David’s Determinist Substack
1d
The “speech is violence” frame is a loaded gun pointed at everyone. If hateful speech is itself a form of violence, then Charlie Kirk — who spent years saying things like “the Civil Rights Act was a huge mistake” and warning that Muslims were “conquering Europe” — was, by that definition, committing... See more
MAGA’s scary clampdown on free speech
This explains why so much outrage in the public square is now directed at what one might call speech crimes. Even the neologism hate speech speaks to this. While earlier generations might have seen damage to body or property as the most serious categories of crime, a highly psychologized era will accord increasing importance to words as means of
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