re: "The Encroachment of the Unsayable" (The New York Times, October 20, 2020)
Since a foundational principle of democracy, if not its main definition, is that democracy is a system of government in which each person individually is accorded an equal right to a voice in their society, its government and the laws that govern it, it demands a very strong form of free speech protection.
A useful litmus test of your commitment to democracy and its foundational principle of free speech is the length of the list of things that you find deeply offensive for which you insist on strong legal protection from censorship. If you cannot produce a list of decent length of the ideas, facts, fantasies and other things that spring erratic from the minds of humankind, that you personally find offensive, disgusting, vile, worthless, repugnant and generally pollution of society, then the genuineness of your commitment to democracy that respects individual liberties is seriously suspect.
I'm sorry if this offends. If it does, then it should offend, for democracy promises only respect for each person in the society it governs, not their immunity from being offended by what they hate, fear, fail to understand, or would deny.
_______________________________
The above comment was submitted by Felix Qui to The New York Times article.
It is published there at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/opinion/france-liberalism.html#commentsContainer&permid=109702175:109702175
No comments:
Post a Comment
However strongly dissenting or concurring, politely worded comments are welcome.
Please note, however, that, due to Felix Qui's liability for them, comments must comply with Thai law, and are moderated accordingly.