Mind Shuttering of the Alt Right

[Traitorfish]

"Paid Soros troll" is the way to say "Shut up, I don't want to waste my time arguing with you", like "Racist/sexist/homophobic/islamaphobic/xenophobic" has been used by some for years.

That's probably true, but it's still telling. A racist, sexist or homophobe is somebody with bad opinions who could, at least in principle, fix their bad opinions and become one of the good guys. A paid Soros troll has no opinions, they're just in it for the money. As Tim said, it indicates not only a refusal to countenance alternative opinions, but a refusal to believe that they can be sincerely held.

Plus, calling somebody "racist" doesn't invoke an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, which is, y'know, a whole thing with these guys.

 

[Lexicus]

Man, Andrew Breitbart must be rolling over in his grave at how Bannon warped his network.

Tend to doubt it. There's a good deal of continuity there, at least as far as I know.

 

[christos200]

Well, as far as I know, the alt right uses such insults in internet only (twitter, Breitbart, etch). On the other hand, people on the far left have rioted in the streets, prevented speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking and try to actively shut down debate and free speech. So yes, the alt right is stupid in making such insults as I doubt most leftists are funded by Soros or are insincere in their beliefs, but this is confined in the internet while far leftist shutdown of free speech is not. As such, while criticism of the behavior of the alt right is necessary, criticism of the far leftists and their PC is even more necessary.

 

[El_Machinae]

It's why I don't want people to blow 'regressive left' as a useful term!

 

[Gori the Grey]

Why isn't anybody talking about the millions of people Trump paid to vote for him?

 

[Farm Boy]

It's why I don't want people to blow 'regressive left' as a useful term!

I'm already getting pretty done with associating alt-right with consistent or reliable meaning. It's sort of like "fascist" that way, or "nazi," or "communist," or "socialist." Speakers now need to build credibility to use those terms and have them carry meaning without simply losing speaker credibility instead, if that makes sense. Matter of time. It hurts, so it will be deployed liberally until it doesn't hurt anymore. ><

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Well, as far as I know, the alt right uses such insults in internet only (twitter, Breitbart, etch).

It's only confined to the internet because the alt right is (in reality) such a minority and primarily found in the low density population areas. The internet is the only access they have to 'gathering' in the kind of numbers they need to feel safe being jerks. The handful of anonymous clowns that parrot Breitbart onto my local news site have all been invited to come out in person and check me for pay stubs from Soros, but none of them have ever taken me up on it.

Denying these people the opportunity of a rallying point where they can get together in real life to work their evil in a mob of potentially dangerous size seems like a pretty good idea, since without knowing where to find each other they are stuck with gnashing their evil little teeth behind the safety of their anonymous screen names and gun toting avatars. It keeps them relatively harmless and prevents doing something about them from becoming a necessity while we hope they outgrow it.

 

[Traitorfish]

Well, as far as I know, the alt right uses such insults in internet only (twitter, Breitbart, etch). On the other hand, people on the far left have rioted in the streets, prevented speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking and try to actively shut down debate and free speech.

Dylan Roof killed nine people.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I suspect it is wrong to think the collapse of civil discourse and the shuttering of minds happens only on the Right. It is wrong to complain about the mote in your neighbor's eye when you have a beam in your own. (But it is recreational to do so.)

John Cleese will no longer perform at American universities because of political correctness. Student group have forced right-wing speakers to cancel appearances. Real life is becoming like the Internet. We can spend days and days without ever facing a contrary opinion that might challenge our beliefs.

It is very sad when comedians like John Cleese cannot tell jokes at universities.

Suppressing jokes inevitably suppresses humour and free speech.

It is very natural to talk out what one is thinking so that successfully conforming
to what is PC behaviour typically involves confining one's thoughts to rigid channels.

This inhibits imagination and creativity, and leads to a mentally closed society.

This was a key factor in bringing down the soviet union and will impact on the West.

 

[Lexicus]

Dylan Roof killed nine people.

A Nazi murdered a black man in NYC like two weeks ago.

 

[Farm Boy]

We lose about a thousand a week to overdoses. There's lots of things to work on when it comes to hopelessness and poisonous hope.

 

[JollyRoger]

Well, as far as I know, the alt right uses such insults in internet only (twitter, Breitbart, etch). On the other hand, people on the far left have rioted in the streets, prevented speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking and try to actively shut down debate and free speech. So yes, the alt right is stupid in making such insults as I doubt most leftists are funded by Soros or are insincere in their beliefs, but this is confined in the internet while far leftist shutdown of free speech is not. As such, while criticism of the behavior of the alt right is necessary, criticism of the far leftists and their PC is even more necessary.

Actually, the right also prevented Milo from speaking too - after snowflaking all over themselves about the protests.

 

[christos200]

Actually, the right also prevented Milo from speaking too - after snowflaking all over themselves about the protests.

And I called them out for that. But the biggest problem is the left which used violence to prevent Milo to talk.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

And I called them out for that. But the biggest problem is the left which used violence to prevent Milo to talk.

The biggest problem is that there are people who think Milo should be listened to.

 

[JollyRoger]

And I called them out for that. But the biggest problem is the left which used violence to prevent Milo to talk.

There were some agitators among the vast majority of peaceful protesters, just like there are violent cops among those enforcing the right's desire to utilize men with badges and guns to prevent speech in the form of protest.

 

[Senethro]

To be honest, the protests did less to shut Milo up than all his best buds did, when they removed his associations with them and platforms for speaking. That really shut down his speech about the relationships between men and boys.

 

[christos200]

The biggest problem is that there are people who think Milo should be listened to.

I believe that everyone has the right to be listened to. I am in support of free speech. Censorship erodes our democratic freedoms.

 

[JollyRoger]

Milo needs to be more concerned about his right to remain silent.

 

[christos200]

Milo needs to be more concerned about his right to remain silent.

"I do not like what he says, so I advocate for him to be censored. Aren't I a huge democrat and liberal?"
lol

 

[El_Machinae]

I believe that everyone has the right to be listened to. I am in support of free speech. Censorship erodes our democratic freedoms.

It's a grammar thing, so the meaning of your sentence is probably different from your intent. So that's why you replied to Tim's comment the way you did.

People have the right to talk. It's not the same thing as the right to be listened to. I also happen to think that shutting down invited guests is contra to the way we want discussions to happen, but the right to be heard doesn't exist. Only to express yourself. It's a little grammar quirk.