Most of the so called hate speech is rantings from idiots or bigots but should we ban them?
I hate Broccoli - expresses a hate, is it hate speech?
No I was told, its an opinion, its not inciting hate.
I hate Broccoli and you should too - I just incited hate, is it hate speech.
No I was told, its a vegetable not a person.
I hate broccoli and you should too as well as hate those who grow it, sell it & profit from it, they should be stopped - Is it hate speech yet?
No I was told that although I'm trying to tick all the boxes its a bizarre opinion worthy of discussion only to derail & dismantle it for the ridicule it deserves.
Why can we not as a society discuss anti Semitic hate speech then so we can dismantle it and show it for the horrid evil it is?
FWIW I neither love nor hate broccoli, it conjures up feelings of staggering indifference. Served on a plate I'll eat it neither loving it nor hating it, its nutritious fuel. I encourage people to eat it...because its good for you.
Should we ban Nazi speakers from overseas though? If they're likely to incite violence or recruit followers we should deny them visas, more so if they have a serious criminal record. The convicted US Traitor Chelsea Manning was convicted to 35 years jail for breaking the law. This person's views are not important but if this person wants to come to Australia for a speaking tour then no, entry should be denied. Let Chelsea Manning in we have to then let in a convicted criminal with a history of violence who wants to speak on killing Jews and/or other minorities.
On the matter of hate speech, if we ban it we risk sending it underground where it can then resonate with the dispossessed, those who feel betrayed, disenfranchised or for some reason push outside the fringes & margins of society. Then it picks up followers whether they understand the dogma of hate or not, most likely the subversive nature of the hate against society is a huge attraction.
It serves no purpose letting a hate group build numbers whilst mainstream society goes about life unaware of the growth of some forms of extremism.
I have never had the inclination of reading Mein Kempf or Mao's Little Red Book, but I think if they're banned they will gain some attraction. I think we should challenge hate speech and its sad that ABC Programmes like Q&A don't do the usual topical issues & run them through a panel but also grab some nuts and bolts hate speech issues and test them under fire on the belly to see what falls out.
We are in an age where the subversive is very popular amongst young people, its attractive...even when its counter productive to all involved.
Che Guevara is a pop art image nowadays. He's on shirts & posters when he was a mercenary, most likely a psychopath and wanted to bring in full socialist state rule. He was prepared not to argue for it, he was only ever going to get his vision by killing to get it.
Ned Kelly has become a brand too, but fact is, he was a killer. Had the train not been warned he would have killed an awful lot more. It would have been an outright massacre. Yet we only recall his stand against oppression, he's an iconic hero to many. He was a thief and an unapologetic cop killer.
No we shouldn't ban hate speech. We should ignore it and when it rises up society should sit down and dismantle it, inspect it & explain to the world what the hate speech really is.
Broccoli is ok. Killing minority groups is not. Revising murderous thugs as being bandits for freedom is wrong on every level.
The perfect answer isn't here yet. Banning hate speech may actually cause more problems and give indefensible ideas more followers.
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