Free speech and anonymity are grossly incompatible. When you can say anything you want without being identified, it leads to the worst in human relations. Social media is now populated by extreme left and right wingers and bots governed by China, Russia and our other adversaries, who seem to be growing in number by the day. By some estimates of computer security firms, over 50 % of social media traffic is bot generated. I believe most people are rational individuals who just want to live a good life and get along with others, but the hateful content does impact their perceptions of others in a very bad way. Elimination of autonomy would likely put an end to this. That combined with a liberalization of defamation laws to make it easier to sue someone for false comments would make the world a better place.
Agree with most of what you say. Social media is symptomatic of the ills of especially American society but rapidly spreading across the globe. It is emblematic of what I call the McWorld, the world of the proverbial bad contractor whose deeds are "quick & dirty."
What distinguishes, purportedly, humankind, is the ability to wonder, to seek beyond, to yearn to know, to fix, restore, to build. The McWorld is all about shortcuts to greed and ego. My world of medicine has become McMedicine. Much of the diet of Americans is now McDonald or McBurgerKing, etc. What we have in Congress with so many is McLegislation by those aspiring wealth and power, but not earned by hard work.
So you hit it on the head in pointing out the danger of social media. It's quick and dirty but superficial and does not aspire to the better nature of humankind (now an oxymoron for way too many).
Mike et al. Just watched the so-called "hearings" and wonder how the hell does Democracy stand a chance? I have a sweatshirt that states:
""If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate." In this case, the precipitate is sludge, detritus, or bluntly just plain shit. The testimony and conduct of the Republicans was equivalent to taking semaglutide (Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Rybelsus®) ⇢ Nauseating.
If we conducted ourselves that way in grade school, we'd be thrown out of the class. These Republicans were elected into office by citizens who did not vet them or by citizens who must have cerebral atrophy. How America could ever be #1 in the world belongs in the Guinness Book.
Mike: you said "They spin in their contradictions." Yes, it is the pot:kettle syndrome. Republicans accusing Jack Smith of violating the Constitution, and betraying the rule of law is equivalent to Jack the Ripper getting the Nobel Peace Prize. If Republicans that we heard today and that exist in Congress today were the physicians and scientists of the world, we would be back bleeding people and treating everything with leeches. Hand washing- don't be ridiculous.
I am sick of the endless text messages (ten or more a day) asking me for money from Democrats. But I think donating is far better than having Trump pirate my social security, or outright steal my assets. A POTUS making over 1 billion dollars in one year in office. Aren't you all outraged? Listen to Judy Collin's song Marat. It really makes you want to bring back the guillotine and see heads roll.
I am not as committed to America as you Mike. At 83, spending my life saving as many people as I can only to see a tyrant cause death and despair is sad and discouraging. I know from the murders in my family related to similar Nazi mentality we have in Trump, the DOJ, that passivity does not eradicate evil. I love the philosophy of Gandhi, of Jesus, of MLK, but when your life is on the line, you do whatever it takes to restore integrity or you die.
I have taken the melody of My Country 'Tis of Thee and created a song for these cataclysmic times. Perhaps, someone out there knows a Bob Dylan-like or Springsteen-like talent that can bring this to the public. If so, I would write off the proceeds to help those in Ukraine, and others in Minnesota.
RIGHT ON!!! The "Promethean class" would pride itself on bringing us fire -- but we already have fire -- in our hearts, in the spirit of caring for each other. The "fire" they bring us simply seeks to burn and bind us. They are massive ticks, feeding on our life-blood. In nature, parasites die when their hosts do. Are they the least bit aware of that?
I remember when we had the concept of exile. Greece and Rome used to do this for instance. Cast them out of the state and civil society and let them survive in the “wilderness” as they may. Confiscate their wealth, housing and possessions, render them stateless. Maybe they will learn some empathy for displaced people. Let’s see how they survive on their own without the benefits of citizenship, the protection, the infrastructure, even the healthcare. Sorry, no access, you were not prepared to fund the science and development, why should you get the benefit? I am just so tired of these treasonous parasites.
(1) Is Trump legally responsible for Jan 6 based solely on his public statements from the rostrum that day? I think not, although he might be legally responsible for it for other reasons having to do with his conduct prior to the actual event. It seems to me that it would violate free speech principles to base a prosecution of him on his “fight like hell” claptrap as it only dubiously triggered the “incitement” exception to the First Amendment’s protections.
I've also never liked that "incitement" is not protected by the First Amendment. Think about what outlawing it means. Apart from the fact that bad-faith actors have always tried to loosen the concept to apply it to situations where it is not justified, does it not invoke, and answer in the affirmative, the sententious question asked of children, "If someone told you to go jump off a bridge, would you do it?" It’s utterly infantilizing.
With this concept, we've made an unseemly, morally obtuse concession to the trope of the Mob, a long-standing, anti-democratic slander in political theory that goes back to Plato and neutralizes the responsibility of those who listen to an inciter to restrain themselves (assuming they are moved), and not commit crimes afterwards. Proof: the disavowal of responsibility by some of those who stormed the Capitol on the ground that Trump incited them. In essence, these idiots said, and asked the rest of us to accept, that they were lemmings and should be treated as such. This is not valid in a would-be free, democratic society.
(2) Jack Smith might be credible and sincere, but the misuse of the law beyond him to get Trump seemingly at any price to the law’s credibility, only establishing Trump as a felon in a preposterously technical state prosecution, made its own special contribution to the degradation of democracy in the Trump epoch, for which it has a lot to account.
(3) Name some names more often of the people with whom you were once in that room. We need to know who they are.
Free speech and anonymity are grossly incompatible. When you can say anything you want without being identified, it leads to the worst in human relations. Social media is now populated by extreme left and right wingers and bots governed by China, Russia and our other adversaries, who seem to be growing in number by the day. By some estimates of computer security firms, over 50 % of social media traffic is bot generated. I believe most people are rational individuals who just want to live a good life and get along with others, but the hateful content does impact their perceptions of others in a very bad way. Elimination of autonomy would likely put an end to this. That combined with a liberalization of defamation laws to make it easier to sue someone for false comments would make the world a better place.
Agree with most of what you say. Social media is symptomatic of the ills of especially American society but rapidly spreading across the globe. It is emblematic of what I call the McWorld, the world of the proverbial bad contractor whose deeds are "quick & dirty."
What distinguishes, purportedly, humankind, is the ability to wonder, to seek beyond, to yearn to know, to fix, restore, to build. The McWorld is all about shortcuts to greed and ego. My world of medicine has become McMedicine. Much of the diet of Americans is now McDonald or McBurgerKing, etc. What we have in Congress with so many is McLegislation by those aspiring wealth and power, but not earned by hard work.
So you hit it on the head in pointing out the danger of social media. It's quick and dirty but superficial and does not aspire to the better nature of humankind (now an oxymoron for way too many).
Mike et al. Just watched the so-called "hearings" and wonder how the hell does Democracy stand a chance? I have a sweatshirt that states:
""If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate." In this case, the precipitate is sludge, detritus, or bluntly just plain shit. The testimony and conduct of the Republicans was equivalent to taking semaglutide (Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Rybelsus®) ⇢ Nauseating.
If we conducted ourselves that way in grade school, we'd be thrown out of the class. These Republicans were elected into office by citizens who did not vet them or by citizens who must have cerebral atrophy. How America could ever be #1 in the world belongs in the Guinness Book.
Mike: you said "They spin in their contradictions." Yes, it is the pot:kettle syndrome. Republicans accusing Jack Smith of violating the Constitution, and betraying the rule of law is equivalent to Jack the Ripper getting the Nobel Peace Prize. If Republicans that we heard today and that exist in Congress today were the physicians and scientists of the world, we would be back bleeding people and treating everything with leeches. Hand washing- don't be ridiculous.
I am sick of the endless text messages (ten or more a day) asking me for money from Democrats. But I think donating is far better than having Trump pirate my social security, or outright steal my assets. A POTUS making over 1 billion dollars in one year in office. Aren't you all outraged? Listen to Judy Collin's song Marat. It really makes you want to bring back the guillotine and see heads roll.
I am not as committed to America as you Mike. At 83, spending my life saving as many people as I can only to see a tyrant cause death and despair is sad and discouraging. I know from the murders in my family related to similar Nazi mentality we have in Trump, the DOJ, that passivity does not eradicate evil. I love the philosophy of Gandhi, of Jesus, of MLK, but when your life is on the line, you do whatever it takes to restore integrity or you die.
I have taken the melody of My Country 'Tis of Thee and created a song for these cataclysmic times. Perhaps, someone out there knows a Bob Dylan-like or Springsteen-like talent that can bring this to the public. If so, I would write off the proceeds to help those in Ukraine, and others in Minnesota.
My Country
by Adam M. Strum & Stephen B. Strum
My country, tears for thee,
Once a land flowing free
these words now ring:
Land where many people strived
People that had lives deprived
With life and liberty denied
In hope, they cling.
This land being great could be,
A nation where all are free
A union of love;
Where we solve issues and ills,
With vision that brings us thrills;
Our hearts with kindness fills,
Our beauteous land.
We won’t have tyrants here
Creating chaos causing fear,
With fealty demands;
Kings, Cons, and Liars we dread
End the Blue versus Red
Not see our planet dead
By thoughtless plans.
Time to act and not freeze,
Our virtue must not appease
What’s right from wrong:
Let us make no mistake,
We give, we do not take
Our children’s lives at stake,
This is our song.
RIGHT ON!!! The "Promethean class" would pride itself on bringing us fire -- but we already have fire -- in our hearts, in the spirit of caring for each other. The "fire" they bring us simply seeks to burn and bind us. They are massive ticks, feeding on our life-blood. In nature, parasites die when their hosts do. Are they the least bit aware of that?
Incredibly insightful article!
I remember when we had the concept of exile. Greece and Rome used to do this for instance. Cast them out of the state and civil society and let them survive in the “wilderness” as they may. Confiscate their wealth, housing and possessions, render them stateless. Maybe they will learn some empathy for displaced people. Let’s see how they survive on their own without the benefits of citizenship, the protection, the infrastructure, even the healthcare. Sorry, no access, you were not prepared to fund the science and development, why should you get the benefit? I am just so tired of these treasonous parasites.
This could be the best writing on the concept of "the weaponization of free speech" I've ever read. Thanks for this!
This is beautiful, Mike. I too value truth above everything.
I too hate the way they’ve perverted speech freedom to protect the oligarchy.
I don’t get why the 1A is not restricted when the speaker is a powerful official.
Keep it up. Your philosophy is just what we need.
sooooooo TRUE
Yes indeed.
Four points:
(1) Is Trump legally responsible for Jan 6 based solely on his public statements from the rostrum that day? I think not, although he might be legally responsible for it for other reasons having to do with his conduct prior to the actual event. It seems to me that it would violate free speech principles to base a prosecution of him on his “fight like hell” claptrap as it only dubiously triggered the “incitement” exception to the First Amendment’s protections.
I've also never liked that "incitement" is not protected by the First Amendment. Think about what outlawing it means. Apart from the fact that bad-faith actors have always tried to loosen the concept to apply it to situations where it is not justified, does it not invoke, and answer in the affirmative, the sententious question asked of children, "If someone told you to go jump off a bridge, would you do it?" It’s utterly infantilizing.
With this concept, we've made an unseemly, morally obtuse concession to the trope of the Mob, a long-standing, anti-democratic slander in political theory that goes back to Plato and neutralizes the responsibility of those who listen to an inciter to restrain themselves (assuming they are moved), and not commit crimes afterwards. Proof: the disavowal of responsibility by some of those who stormed the Capitol on the ground that Trump incited them. In essence, these idiots said, and asked the rest of us to accept, that they were lemmings and should be treated as such. This is not valid in a would-be free, democratic society.
(2) Jack Smith might be credible and sincere, but the misuse of the law beyond him to get Trump seemingly at any price to the law’s credibility, only establishing Trump as a felon in a preposterously technical state prosecution, made its own special contribution to the degradation of democracy in the Trump epoch, for which it has a lot to account.
(3) Name some names more often of the people with whom you were once in that room. We need to know who they are.
(4) Great piece
Frivolous, but I am curious why the pile of ***? Cannonballs? The insignia of TN?
"because the rules are for suckers"
Once the rules become optional, there are no rules.
https://syzito.xyz/@fkamiah17/115932584140350838