One of the hallmarks of the IDW is willingness to engage in open, civil, fact-based discussions on any topic. We fight for "free speech" but even the term "Free Speech" has a different meaning depending on who says it. Perhaps we could define it as the ability to discuss taboo topics?
Please add SHORT statements in the comments that you think are the most important to discuss today AND the Left/MSM wants repressed. Also, vote "like" or "grrr" on comments so we can sort them later. Thanks! You can make your statement bold by surrounding the text with 2 asterisks.
The Russia collusion narrative is false
Transexuals and possible link to mental illness
Islamophobia is not legitimate
The dangers/trouble with socialist policies
Well said! Add in "Places with more gun control have more violent crime" and "Gun Control does not work" to the list and I think it is nearly complete! LOL
Has the investigation actually reached a verdict?
See above
Not sure what you mean by illegitimate, but Islamophobia is no more acceptable than antisemitism or any other racist doctrine.
Please be more specific.
Yes, it pretty much has.
See the number of votes my comment above received.
Islamophobia is at best fear-based and not necessarily out of hate, don't confuse hate with fear.
No need to be more specific (see number 2). Judging by the number of votes I got on my original comment I'd dare to say that most members who came by this post understood my comment.
I was in Iraq in 2005 when the Westboro assholes first started their shit. We lost a kid from our patrol base who lived in Kansas and they protested his funeral. I do not like the westboro baptist church and think the members are evil scumbags, but freedom of speech means all speech.
Years later, I saw the "church" protesting again. I saw the evil in their eyes and could feel it. Had their freedom of speech been shut down and them been made to shut up and be silent, people would not have seen their hate and their movement might have grown.
My opinion, unless words incite calls to violence or harm upon others, let people be hateful. It only exposes them. If you want to let an idiot prove how ignorant they are, let them speak.
It’s very good that you were able to restrain yourself. Much respect to you.
However I think there is an argument to be made though that speech that disrupts social cohesion should be restricted. Supposing you had (understandably) lost your temper with them and punched them, I don’t think we can equate that to punching someone at random. They were seeking such a reaction through their actions.
Different example, Charlottesville chants “jews will not replace us” and “blood and soil”. Not technically a call for violence, but clearly intent on terrorising Jewish people.
@InternetDorkWeb Yes but who would regulate the speech ? Too much of a slippery slope for the thought police to jump on. Yelling "fire" in a crowded place of course is wrong speech, but virtually everything else - free, free, free
@677593rme Other countries have adopted stricter standards than the United States and continue to enjoy freedom of speech.
There are also some cases where certain kinds of speech can threaten freedom of speech itself (the same logic that is used to argue absolutele democracy can become tyrannical)... so what should be done in these cases?
@InternetDorkWeb I've seen the footage of Charlottesville a few times and can't decide if they're saying "Jews will not replace us" or "You will not replace us". Probably because the first time I heard it was on a radio broadcast when the presenter asked that very question.
@UKIDWFan They were chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us” and many of them were carrying swastikas and other fascist symbols. You can also look into some of the people there; Richard Spencer, David Duke... people who have made their opinions about Jewish people well known.
The killings of Christians all over the world by the thousands.
I agree. Nothing is said about this in MSM. Very sad.
Very interesting, why is it not news? I agree that is one thing the left should have to answer for. Not reporting on something is the same as propaganda via omission.
FWIW, I did delete a member who wanted to include "Hitler did nothing wrong" as it's both an example of a trollish behavior and not supported by fact and therefore it isn't debatable. This member could have stated something like "Jewish people are unfairly over-represented in positions of power". While I don't agree with the "unfairly" part of the statement, it is debatable.
I know who you were referring to, and glad to hear you deleted that guy.
Glad to hear it @admin, keep up the good work.
Thank you for removing that person.
The government should never make laws compelling speech.
Yes, I do remember my high school teacher compelled me to give a speech in class once. But, yes, I'm more afraid of mobs compelling speech than the government as once the mobs get elected, free speech is doomed.
History of the United States as it is clearly written, not as what they teach now...The cleansed version. History of the holocaust. History of the MUSLIMS. The second amendment and our Constitutional rights to bear arms. Freedom of speech. Abortion. The right to due process. Illegal immigration. Should I go on??
That silencing other voices in response to emotional difficulty, even when severe, understandable and worthy of compassion, does nothing to solve the problems which generate disagreement. Moreover it's undemocratic and at odds with the best values of secular humanism.
Three!
Gender Dysphoria is a mental illness. Being Transgender is not.
White people are not systematically disadvantaged because of slavery.
IQ scores vary between individuals, are culturally relative and introduces an additional, totally unnecessary metric when looking at various social issues.
@Boohickert Why are you trying to curb my freedom of speech
Being Transgender is a manifestation of gender dysphoria; Black people are also no longer disadvantaged because of slavery; IQ testing done properly transcends cultural relativism and IQ is indeed a valid metric when looking at various social issues. @InternetDorkWeb
Why have “Government and Civics” been largely removed from Our Schools?
Why has society ... mostly Democrats ... allowed the Left to largely take over Academia?
How does anyone expect Our Youth to have opposing views when they haven’t been “taught” them?
Let’s apply occam’s razor to the question about universities.
Let’s look at a few hypotheses:
Conservative commentators have been telling their audiences not to attend college for at least the past twenty years. Perhaps they listened.
Conservatives are more motivated by financial gain than left wingers. Perhaps this is reflected in their career paths.
Conservatives are actually represented at colleges, but maybe in different courses from leftists.
Some combination of the above.
A secret leftist cabal has conspired to keep right wing people outside of academia so that right wing ideas are silenced, despite the fact we are currently on a forum overwhelmingly populated by right wingers, as well as the existence of private research and think tanks...
@InternetDorkWeb
You need to rework your “razor’s” edge ...
#1. False - Conservatives have consistently been telling people to weigh their options ... and aptitudes ... “College might not be the best idea for YOU ...” is somewhat different than “YOU shouldn’t go to college”
#2. False - Conservatives encourage others to be able to fulfill their responsibilities which includes financially.
#3. True ... Probably - Conservatives are not as likely to consider Theology, Philosophy, Women’s Studies or Basketweaving to be of value or likely to be able to pay down their School Debt.
#4. ?
#5. ... no “conspiracy” in the way you seem to mean it ...
If this really is false, then what about the stuff you said here:
“Starting in the 60’s there was a concerted, palpable shift to the Left ... hidden though it was in the Anti-Vietnam, Peace, Love and Happiness Movements ... “Never trust anyone over 30 ...” ... many of the teachers flooding out of the colleges carried that “softer, friendlier” message into the classrooms and poured that honeyed tripe into the minds of students ...
10 years later a more thoroughly indoctrinated set poured even more honeyed tripe into the minds ...
10 years later and the Left indoctrination and propaganda started to become solidified and “teaching” was considered secondary (although they continue to refer to it as “teaching” ...”
Do conservatives advise young people consider getting themselves indoctrinated by leftists?
What you are talking about is known as the frankfurt school conspiracy, sometimes called “cultural marxism”. Though it actually has its origins in nazi germany
where it was known as “cultural bolshevism”.
So much for not being indoctrinated.
My point here is that someone who is motivated by money would probably try to find more lucrative jobs outside of academia.
Sorry to nitpick, but I would imagine conservatives would be far more likely to study theology than liberals. But whatever, we are broadly in agreement.
Obviously it is a mixture of the above; there isn’t going to be a single cause.
I made fun of what you were going to say before you even said it. Doesn’t that tell you something?
@Bay0Wulf I’m an engineering graduate, so I didn’t study liberal arts or basket weaving.
In my country you normally take theology and divinity to enter the preisthood, which is why I assumed it would attract conservatives. But I will grant you that it’s not something I ever looked into in any great detail. My university didn’t even offer it.
Again, you are talking about the Frankfurt School conspiracy theory. It’s not real. There is no reason to discuss that any further.
Sorry, I have been talking about the alleged left wing bias of academic staff, not their students. This is a separate issue from the liberal tendencies of most college students... young people are more liberal in general, including college students.
@InternetDorkWeb
Kudos on your degree in a useful Discipline
Priests tend to be “conservative” on very few points. Mostly they are not ... witness the current Pope ...
The Frankfurt School Conspiracy ... I don’t really think that what we’re talking about is what typically can be called a “conspiracy” ... maybe in the early stages ... but the infection of Academia thus Society thus Schools thus the Resulting Generations with Leftist / Socialist Thought is almost a self generating disease. Kruschev said long ago that we would succumb and, though his time line was shorter, he seems to have been effectively correct.
The alleged goals of Socialism “sound” so “good” so “reasonable” which is why so many people are ... like moths ... attracted to its flame.
Who doesn’t like the nebulous concept of “Fair” ... of “Equal” ... of Wurld Peaz ... of a Coke and a Smile ... of teaching the World to Sing in “Perfect Harmony”? This is what the Left seems to be offering using the dogma of Socialism ... Except that’s not what they provide ...
“Equal” to them is like an equation where “Equal” is 1 and “Equal Rights for ...” is 1+a ... Equal Rights for ... Blacks, for Women, for LGBTQLMNOP, for the Unproductive ... these are NOT “Equal Rights” they are “Special Rights” and they’re not something new you can see them mirrored in every place where Socialism exists and even more so, you can see them everyplace that Communism exists.
Socialism and Communism are simply a different form of Power over the masses. They wrest Power, Prestige, Production (Money/Wealth) from those that seem to have it and take it onto THEMSELVES (whatever “Government” structure they create) and DO NOT “Share” that Power except the few, minimal crumbs they absolutely must.
The Left wraps the kind words of “Hope and Change” around the head of a 10 Pound Sledge Hammer ... the Iron Fist inside the Velvet Glove ...
Does Academia promote the Left? Yes. Is it a Conspiracy? Not really. Not the way one normally thinks of a conspiracy anyway ... the Left Conspires and their conspiracies are easily seen everywhere but that does not mean the bulk of the effected / infected are part of those conspiracies ... they are as Lenin referred to them, the “useful idiots” (might not have been Lenin) the bulk of them are “herd animals” who have no more idea as to where they are going than do Sheep, Cattle, Lemmings ... they simply are following the “Leader”.
Does Academia espouse Leftist junk? Of course they do. It’s what they were taught ... it’s what they learned ... they no more question it’s validity than a blind person questions the color red ... they haven’t the tools to question it never mind dispute it.
As to their students? They are learning what they in turn are being taught. The fact that it is Leftist tripe means nothing to them ... it is what they have been taught since Sesamee Street and Barney ... they “learn” without question ...
In fact, a very good indicator of how bad things are is that very few people engage in Actual Thought, Critical Thinking or Self Teaching any more ... the most frequent “reference source” is “I’ll look it up on Google” aka. “Google It”
In the 70’s there was a phrase coined; A “Zipless Fck” ... that is sex without any effort.
That is what “Passes for Knowledge” these days; A “Zipless Fck” ... A Mindless Stat.
@InternetDorkWeb #5 - This forum exists, as does the IDW because the classic liberals and conservative voices are being suppressed.
@677593rme
Yes ... fortunately or unfortunately people have taken to Forums and Chatpages and whatever one would call Facebook and the like as a way to express themselves ... a way to get their voices (opinions) out into the public realm.
I don’t necessarily see it as “suppression” for a commercially owned business to decide what “tone” or “content” they wish to allow.
For instance, Facebook has made all sorts of arbitrary decisions as to what they allow in terms of “conservative” or, specifically, “white” speech. Perhaps a case of discrimination could be brought but, otherwise, Facebook is a business. As is Google.
I “feel” that it’s “unfair” that they tilt the table toward “Neo-Liberal” and Leftist thought BUT they are commercial businesses and have that right.
What is seriously sad is that so many people have come to rely on them so completely that THEIR Thought (Facebook, Google, etc.) has, to a large degree, replaced the Peoples’ Own Thought.
I am saddened every time I hear someone use the phrase;”Google It” ... even if it’s meant as a generic form of;”Look It Up” because all too many people do “Google It” and thus rely on Google (a corporate entity with its own agenda) to form their resulting thought processes by relying on the response made by Google’s Corporate Agenda.
Human trafficking, and along with that Satanic ritual torture, murder and cannibalism of babies and children. Nobody wants to even acknowledge its existence, let alone expose the perps in government and private sectors.
The left does care about human trafficking.
Satanic ritual stuff on the other hand, you’ve got us there...?
Fetal Slaughter, Infanticide ( the killing of living human beings, infants), the selling of fetal body parts by Planned Parenthood, the Anti-Jewishness now brewing Democratic party scandal, that White Anglo Protestants largely settled and created this Nation, that Muslims are responsible for an enormous percentage of terrorist attacks, from Towers to Time Square to Truck mowing down ... the list is phenomenally long, that the MSM is jokingly leftist, that the Clintons are sub class Whites in disguise, etc etc etc.
It might have been better to make this a numbered list to facilitate discussion.
White men are the only people that can fail on their own accord. Everyone else gets a victim pass.
The Past Can Inform the Present History has positive value (not just human error)
Art is that which does not bring harm to the soul An old definition of art - anything can be art, it can even be brutal and painful, but art that aims to destroy the soul is trash.
Being is as important as doing or "The unexamined life is not worth living" Work and/or activism can be part of your identity, but it can also distract you from personal growth.
Society doesn't sin, people do The left sees good and evil residing in social structures, not in individuals. The right sees it the other way around. That's why, for the left, being on the wrong path isn't just about making a mistake, it's about your morality.
This is an essential component of Marxist conceptions of history. You know, just as the feudal lords were overthrown by the capitalists, the capitalists shall be overthrown by the proletariat?
Great men history on the other hand , which many conservatives seem to believe, doesn’t really meet this standard.
It sounds like an extremely vague definition to me, but I am an Engineer.
Activism is a byproduct of observation. Furthermore even activists have lives outside of politics.
This is a misunderstanding. The left does not reject the notion of personal responsibility, it’s just useless when trying to examine larger social problems.
On some level every black person in prison in the US is likely to be at least partially responsible for ending up there, but this doesn’t really tell us much. Why are there so many of them relative to other ethnic groups? Why do they recieve longer sentences on average?
“personal responsibility” just ignores these questions.
@InternetDorkWeb Yeah, I'm an engineer, too, but I read philosophy.That doesn't make me a Marxist either. lol
How overpopulation is the root cause of global warming.
OVERPOPULATION. Period! Not only Climate Change but Planet Degradation across board.
I think most leftists do think overpopulation is a factor. However it’s not really the direct cause (carbon emissions are) and it’s not something we can actually do anything about.
Here's something; Y'all remember little Alfie, the kid that the UK's socialist medical system decided to kill?
I propose that this was only possible because they disarmed the citizens. Otherwise you might have had some sort of meaningful resistance to this tyranny. I doubt the far Left or Mainstream Media want this little tidbit pointed out or discussed much. For a myriad of reasons...
Can you condense it into a statement for debate?
I propose that the tyrannical overreach we saw in the case of little Alfie was only possible because there is no 2nd Amendment to protect the rights of the UK citizenry to keep or bear arms. I submit that defense against this type of tyranny is exactly why we have a 2nd Amendment.
Bueno?
@VonO In what way could a failure of social services be resolved by a vigilante?
@InternetDorkWeb I was condensing his statement for debate purposes.
To answer your question I would have to know what 'social service' you had in mind.
That was more than a "failure of social services". The government does not own our children and should never be given that much authority over the child's care unless they are wards of the state.
"Western culture is the very apogee of global civilisation so far." [breitbart.com]