In practice, are Americans better off for having the US idea of free speech than Western Europeans whose rights generally aren't as well guaranteed?
It's a right that Americans are very proud of, but the edge cases when contrasted to what other countries have in practice seem to all be net negatives.
First of all, I have literally never heard a critique about the negatives of american free speech. Could you help me understand the negatives?
Second, I do think americans are majorly better off than western europeans for free speech. Consider efforts to ban wearing clothing: that is not how you build a healthy, supportive, productive society, though it is perhaps how you let a culture stagnate. Or, perhaps consider this very article: it is not illegal to read something. (Possesion and distribution are another thing entirely.)
Finally, for better or worse, american free speech has plenty of bounds. Critically, those bounds are typically nowhere near politics or morals, except perhaps reflected in hate speech.
peteretep|8 years ago
It's a right that Americans are very proud of, but the edge cases when contrasted to what other countries have in practice seem to all be net negatives.
fish_fan|8 years ago
Second, I do think americans are majorly better off than western europeans for free speech. Consider efforts to ban wearing clothing: that is not how you build a healthy, supportive, productive society, though it is perhaps how you let a culture stagnate. Or, perhaps consider this very article: it is not illegal to read something. (Possesion and distribution are another thing entirely.)
Finally, for better or worse, american free speech has plenty of bounds. Critically, those bounds are typically nowhere near politics or morals, except perhaps reflected in hate speech.