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321 wrote (edited )

I am not sure that being for or against restrictions on hate speech is a defining issue in relation to being left or right wing. I know the ACLU is in favour of absolute free speech but I am not sure how far this position extends through liberal people in general. At the same time, I have the impression that you would find lots of opponents of laws restricting hate speech on the right.

Personally, I am a "liberal" but support hate speech restrictions.

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An_Old_Big_Tree OP wrote

When I talked about racism ("free speech") I mean that in a much fuller way. Not nearly just regarding what liberals would call 'hate speech' (which is primarily a legal term along with 'free speech'). Racism, racist ideologies - they get no platform, they don't space to voice and spread their opinion (even if it is racism-adjascent, or dogwhistles, or whatever else that supports them and would not fall under 'hate speech'). Not insofar as it can be helped. Racists are for stopping.

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321 wrote

But what I'm questioning is whether, as you seem to be suggesting, all liberals think racism deserves a platform, and all right-wing people think platforms should be denied to racist ideologies. I would not have thought it was nearly as clear cut as that. I think that liberal people don't all have the absolute free speech stance where they will defend the rights of racists, and I think that right wing people don't all have the stance that they would say racists should be prevented from having a platform.

Would you say you are neither liberal or centrist? What would you say you are? I would say I'm a liberal, but I don't support absolute free speech, I think it is bonkers. I agree that racist speech should be restricted.

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An_Old_Big_Tree OP wrote (edited )

Again, it's not just racist speech that should be restricted. Throughout I've been saying that racists and racism must be stopped. There is more to this; unlike how you understand racist speech to be something to 'restrict' - most likely meaning through the use of a laws, prison systems and policing, I advocate for direct action, because political mediation is a major reason this world is so terrible.

To be clear, the reason why right-winged people aren't in this meme is because they're so much more lost a cause that they aren't worth bothering with. Beyond that, memes and satire generally are often not absolute in their characterisation of things - I'm not sure why you'd imagine that to be the case. (but it doesn't let you off the hook for being a liberal either)

The easiest way to describe me would be to call me an anarchist.

Edit: added linked bit in parentheses.

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321 wrote

I see.

Technically I suppose I'm not a "liberal" since I don't live in America, but I thought it was kind of analogous to my general outlook. Perhaps there is some dimension to "liberalism" which I haven't grasped. Is liberalism identified closely with giving a platform to racists?

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An_Old_Big_Tree OP wrote

You're welcome to learn about it on your own. There are probably some answers to be found on this site, perhaps even from other people on this site. I'm getting some sealion-adjacent vibes from this conversation so I'm leaving it now.

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DissidentRage wrote

Liberals are defenders of capitalism, be it harsh and overt capitalism, or welfare capitalism a la Nordic model.

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