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rapadu 7 months ago
If you interpret my comment as meaning I don’t believe in free speech, then the parameters of your argument are extremely black-and-white. Free speech is by definition a dialectic between state and the citizenry. By your logic Hitler was victimised by the state when he was arrested in 1929.

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Hitler pulled a violent coup. They aren’t at all similar. Furthermore free speech isn’t about endorsing every view; it’s about protecting the right to speak without fear of state retaliation. When you say “free speech is a dialectic,” you’re really just dressing up censorship as nuance. But there’s nothing nuanced about the state deciding which views are tolerable. That’s not a dialectic it’s control.