In the US the way things were originally set into law, words are separated from action. People can say things they might not mean, but unless there is credible evidence of an intention to follow words with actions, there is the ability to forgive. Not forgotten, because once something is said it cannot be unsaid, but forgiven. At least that's the way it is supposed to be. That has been twisted so much that it's difficult to see beyond the shades of gray. And there are court defined limits, like yelling fire in a theater and other such things. The main source is the 1st amendment, which is not actually a limit on the people, but a limit on the ability of the government to persecute the people for what they say. Given that we broke away from the British Crown, it was important to put into law the idea that dissent against the government is different from actions against the government.

Good point, but why do you have a dozen of secret agencies then

Death threats, calls for genocide, etc, are not protected speech here. But... Its becoming more common now. It looks to me like the left does it more, but the right isn't clean either. Recently we've had a lot of arrests of people for saying that what's happening in Gaza is genocide. It is genocide. I see a connection because basically death threats are tolerated if the correct political party is in power. This is not going to end well... IMO, the rise in violent thinking is because of how difficult it is to afford basic things. People vent, and they don't know who to blame but they want to blame someone. Its not too different from Germany between the wars... High inflation, heavy handed policy, wide political divide. We have to get people to stop thinking the state can solve their problems. It can only make it worse.

I can't say the left or right or right does it more. These days you get death threats when the game you released is disliked NY the audience 😔 If people are arrested in your place for taking a stance for Gaza: again, visit Germany lol. Hasn't happened here AFAIK. Agree with most of the rest. People who can't afford things have no plan for a future. People without plan for a future give up. The state could help tho by e.g. providing affordable health care and such. Because not worrying about hospital bills ruining you also helps planning a future, believe me or not.