←back to thread

560 points whatsupdog | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.518s | source
Show context
perihelions ◴[] No.45167153[source]
Hard-earned freedoms are wasted on societies who don't have memories of what it took to earn them. Freedom is a ratchet: slides easily and frictionlessly one way, and offers immense resistance in the other.

This is all so disheartening.

replies(8): >>45167266 #>>45167299 #>>45167311 #>>45167395 #>>45167428 #>>45167827 #>>45168737 #>>45169148 #
jay-barronville ◴[] No.45167266[source]
Hard agree. I’m always trying to get my fellow young Americans to understand this and it seems to go right over their heads a lot of times. My parents lived through multiple oppressive dictatorships before emigrating to America. Once I understood everything that they and their families experienced (e.g., family members being kidnapped, disappeared, and eventually murdered simply due their political views), I gained a much deeper appreciation for our Constitution (in particular, our Bill of Rights).

Nowadays, watching how easy it is to get folks to give in to censorship and tyranny for psychological “safety” scares me sometimes (especially when it’s all due to politics).

No matter what someone’s views are (and how offensive I may find them to be), I’ll never ever advocate for their censorship, because I understand where that can lead. Today, it’s your opponent; tomorrow, it’s you.

replies(2): >>45167605 #>>45167608 #
1. whimsicalism ◴[] No.45167605[source]
liberalism is passé nowadays, but it will see a resurgence akin to the “hard times make hard people, hard people make good times” cycle