Pretense of freedom in UK gone. Post rap lyrics go to court.

[snakedafunky]

I don’t know which part of America you’re referring to, but in the state I live in there’s no issue with open containers, I can walk down the street swigging from a bottle of Jack if I want. In addition, “jaywalking” isn’t a criminal offense, it merely relates to who’s at fault in the event of an accident. So in my state, jaywalking merely means that if I cross a road in front of a vehicle, without providing ample space for that vehicle to stop, and I get hit, it is my fault, not the driver of the vehicle. I can cross any street I please, at any time, with no penalty.

Yeah, I know some states don't have that but I think the majority does.
But anyway that was just an example how the government restricts people's freedom in a lot of ways.
Without that being a tyranny. Like with weed or prostitution. Those are bad laws but they are not government tyranny.
The US does, however, has the best freedom of speech protection.
And I am not actually in favor of this law here. Or most of the hate speech laws. I just don't think its government tyranny.
Or limiting my freedom more than other laws I think are unreasonable.

A lot more people get done for Weed offenses in Europe for example compared to free speech issues.
That is a much bigger issue than this one here.

 

[jonharrison]

Yeah, I know some states don't have that but I think the majority does.
But anyway that was just an example how the government restricts people's freedom in a lot of ways.
Without that being a tyranny. Like with weed or prostitution. Those are bad laws but they are not government tyranny.
The US does, however, has the best freedom of speech protection.
And I am not actually in favor of this law here. Or most of the hate speech laws. I just don't think its government tyranny.
Or limiting my freedom more than other laws I think are unreasonable.

A lot more people get done for Weed offenses in Europe for example compared to free speech issues.
That is a much bigger issue than this one here.

Well certainly, but my point was more that, even in the US, governmental control is on a sliding scale. Nowhere has pure freedom, that would be anarchy, and nowhere in the Western world currently has complete tyranny. I choose to live, though, in a state that falls more along the slide towards freedom than other places. I have the marketable skills to live in a place like, say, New York but I enjoy the freedom that the Midwest offers more than I’d enjoy living there. In my opinion, this incident is an undue infringement on a right that every person has to freely express themselves, and I don’t think it’s a system that I would be comfortable living under. If others are fine with living on that level of the scale, than more power to them.

 

[snakedafunky]

Well certainly, but my point was more that, even in the US, governmental control is on a sliding scale. Nowhere has pure freedom, that would be anarchy, and nowhere in the Western world currently has complete tyranny. I choose to live, though, in a state that falls more along the slide towards freedom than other places. I have the marketable skills to live in a place like, say, New York but I enjoy the freedom that the Midwest offers more than I’d enjoy living there. In my opinion, this incident is an undue infringement on a right that every person has to freely express themselves, and I don’t think it’s a system that I would be comfortable living under. If others are fine with living on that level of the scale, than more power to them.

Yeah, I agree.
Also, I am German which has relatively strong "hate speech" laws especially relating to the 3rd Reich.
And I have never had the feeling my speech was limited it anyway. I also don't know of any person that ever got in trouble for it personally.
I can't speak for the UK but in Germany, you have to go out of your way to get charged with that.

I am still in favor of abolishing those laws. I can see why they were implemented in the first place to prevent people from trying to whitewash the Nazi crimes.
But that was a long time ago. I think it would be beneficial to society to relax those. Not that they are a big problem it would just be the right thing to do IMO.

 

[jonharrison]

Yeah, I agree.
Also, I am German which has relatively strong "hate speech" laws especially relating to the 3rd Reich.
And I have never had the feeling my speech was limited it anyway. I also don't know of any person that ever got in trouble for it personally.
I can't speak for the UK but in Germany, you have to go out of your way to get charged with that.

I am still in favor of abolishing those laws. I can see why they were implemented in the first place to prevent people from trying to whitewash the Nazi crimes.
But that was a long time ago. I think it would be beneficial to society to relax those. Not that they are a big problem it would just be the right thing to do IMO.

For sure man, you bring up a good point about history impacting our perceptions on rights and tyranny. People have a hard time, sometimes, stepping outside of their own perspective and recognizing why others might be more comfortable with giving up, or holding onto, certain rights.

 

[snakedafunky]

For sure man, you bring up a good point about history impacting our perceptions on rights and tyranny. People have a hard time, sometimes, stepping outside of their own perspective and recognizing why others might be more comfortable with giving up, or holding onto, certain rights.

Yes, I was actually going to add that while I don't feel my speech is limited or the laws don't bother me that much.
If you are from America I can understand why people might feel those kinds of restrictions would be unacceptable.
Because freedom of speech is such an important part of American identity. Probably the most important one.

 

[jonharrison]

Yes, I was actually going to add that while I don't feel my speech is limited or the laws don't bother me that much.
If you are from America I can understand why people might feel those kinds of restrictions would be unacceptable.
Because freedom of speech is such an important part of American identity. Probably the most important one.

Yeah we sort of have a history, as a nation, of taking British restrictions on speech poorly...