Well worth reading today is New York Time publisher A.
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Jack Yan (็็ตๆฉ)replied to Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce Incredibly well thought out response, Ben. I appreciate your analysis!
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Mister Prickles ๐ฆreplied to Mister Prickles ๐ฆ last edited by
In the UK the concerted efforts of the media kept Corbyn out of power (for good or ill). They also boosted Boris Johnson to chief executive because he was amusing. Then, when they tired of him, they switched the machine from suck to blow and brought him down.
Not even the BBC affects the dispassion of the Gray Lady. If a real imbecile approaches (or even wins) power, no punches are pulled. It's high time the NYT understood the merits of this approach.
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Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Jack Yan (็็ตๆฉ) last edited by
thank you jack
i sorely feel #mastodon is our solution to these problems with traditional #media and #socialmedia
some on mastodon say they are content with it being an oddball fringe thing. and i appreciate them: it is a freedom, and it is special, and if it grows it will groan under the weight of society's ills
but mastodon *must* grow and confront these ills
we can not sit by and enjoy our gem while the world descends into madness, fascism, and plutocrat abuse
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Mastodon Migrationreplied to Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
Guess this is what seems particularly devious about the op-ed. Sulzberger sets the stage with all sorts of high minded appeals to something we can all agree on, press freedom, but then inverts the arguement and uses this sympathetic frame to deflect criticism for basically, as fascism expert Timothy Snyder says, 'obeying in advance.'
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Freedom2Breplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
Just dropping some etymology. Tooth pain = mental block.
not taking sides in a conflict such as war; nonaligned.
neuter: From ne (โnotโ) +โ uter (โeitherโ). In the grammatical sense, a semantic loan from Koine Greek ฮฟแฝฮดฮญฯฮตฯฮฟฯ (oudรฉteros), from ฮฟแฝฮดฮญ (oudรฉ, โnotโ) +โ แผฯฮตฯฮฟฯ (hรฉteros, โone or the other (of two)โ).
-Alis: Used to form an adjective, usually from a noun, indicating a relationship or a pertaining to.
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Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
it's a simple counterargument to Sulzberger:
there is no such thing as freedom of expression that has as its argument antifreedom fascism
i mean, there is: we are living in a world currently defined by bigoted argument amplified
bolstered by plutocrats, the sadistic, and the clueless
sometimes i feel like Karl Popper's "Paradox of Tolerance" needs to go into the US Constitution
maybe someday it will
after we have spent many decades suffering before learning the paradox
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Mastodon Migrationreplied to Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
Well said...
"there is no such thing as freedom of expression that has as its argument antifreedom fascism"
A defense of 'press freedom' that includes normalization of fascist anti-freedom is an intrinsic contradiction.
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Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
unfortunately the realization escapes enough people that we are mired in a horrible struggle
this notion of freedom: "i can do whatever i want, be damned the consequences"
vs
true freedom (a responsibility intrinsic to it): "i can do whatever i want *as long as i do not trample the freedom of others*"
civilization requires a constraint on those who trample other people's freedoms
but *that* is fundamentally confusing
and in the confusion mischief dwells and prospers
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Someone slapped the following into Wikipedia.
"Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased position in regard to political matters. The Collins English Dictionary defines apolitical as 'politically neutral; without political attitudes, content, or bias.'"
https://en.wikipedia.org โบ wiki โบ Apolitici...
Apoliticism - Wikipedia -
โ๐พWiseGuyEddiereplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
@mastodonmigration I boosted this article, but I must admit, I could not finish it. The NYT is becoming a rag, and it amuses me that this opinion piece says what Democrats were saying (and still say) about trump in 2016. Is the NYT trying to salvage credibility before the impending trump loss? I will lose zero sleep over the NYT lamenting losing "press freedom" as they continue to placate a fascist takeover of democracy.
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"I agree with Dante, that: 'The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.'"
- Rev Dr MLK Jr, "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam," 30 April 1967, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia -
Phil Johnstonreplied to Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce @mastodonmigration funnily enough, โI can do whatever I want as long as I do not trample on the freedom of othersโ was the idea that got me into libertarianism. But then I realized libertarians donโt actually believe that and are complete hypocrites.
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Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Phil Johnston last edited by
@johnstonphilip @mastodonmigration
yeah, the libertarian sales pitch is great
then in the next sentence they are talking about going into our bedrooms and policing us there
such that you can see the plutocrat hand behind the sales pitch: "argue for us against regulations we dislike that costs us money, because you appreciate laws are annoying, but don't appreciate why they exist"
meanwhile, the ridiculous social control laws you dislike:
"we don't care about that, or we even support them"
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โ ตโ ปโ ทโ โ ญreplied to Phil Johnston last edited by
@johnstonphilip @benroyce @mastodonmigration I don't think any extant "Libertarians" have even read any of their historical canon whatever its truths and failings might be, they have just received the radically unhinged message from somewhere that they get to do whatever they want. They're anti-intellectual and unrecognizeable.
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V.K. Farfalle ๐ฆ (He/Him)replied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
I am seeing a TERRIFYING disconnect between people recognizing the threat that 'bad actors' in news and social media pose to our democracy...
... and failing to recognize that giving the State the authority to decide what is true and silence what isn't is the very endgame those bad actors are looking for.
If people think that "freeze peach" is bad because of X and Fox, they should be in less of a hurry to give Murdoch and Musk corner offices at the Ministry of Truth.
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Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Votereplied to โ ตโ ปโ ทโ โ ญ last edited by
@z3r0fox @johnstonphilip @mastodonmigration
yeah a true interpretation of libertarianism is fine
but the label gets adopted by douchebags who just want to do whatever they want who cares who they hurt, such as the word "libertarian" becomes trash
similar to how a true reading of christianity results in selfless people who engage in charity for the downtrodden, but those who call themselves christians are some of the most selfish sadistic assholes, the very notion of christianity is tarnished
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Mister Prickles ๐ฆreplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
This is basically the Mills/Camus argument. "Your freedom ends where mine begins," which is fine as far as it goes. Alas, that is not very far anymore.
Europe still has what it calls "public intellectuals," who own their duty to explain thorny problems to those who haven't the time to deal with them independently. But they're being replaced by "opinion formers" and (ugh) "influencers" who have no such duty because the incentives have changed.
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Johnnyvibrantreplied to Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce @jackyan @mastodonmigration In my opinion mastodon isnโt as important as the fediverse, newer better applications will arrive but the decentralised nature of the protocol is worth investment
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Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Johnnyvibrant last edited by
@johnnyvibrant @jackyan @mastodonmigration
good point and thank you
i said mastodon but that's an error. the wider fediverse is the key
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Mister Prickles ๐ฆreplied to Ben Royce ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
Michela Murgia wrote a very funny manual called "How to be a Fascist."
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653042/how-to-be-a-fascist-by-michela-murgia/
To be clear, it's 100% ironical. But it enumetates the _exact_ tactics discussed in this thread.
If you don't have a copy, buy or borrow one ASAP.