A clean majority, too: 53% of Democrats in California, a state that has elected no Republicans whatsoever to office, say that they prefer to curb speech than to endure the violence recently associated with controversial speech. Forty-six percent of California voters overall said the same thing.
In a way, of course, this is common sense. One can understand a preference for fewer violent protests, and many of the ideas being advocated are ugly. Why protect ugly ideas at the cost of undesirable turmoil? For the most part, people don't: codes restricting the freedom of speech for disfavored ideas are quite common in Europe.
Once we thought there was an important American principle, codified in our First Amendment, which it was our duty to defend. Once Democrats, and especially California Democrats, were at the forefront of defending that principle. No longer.
7 comments:
Well, for people who stay within the bounds of the status quo, their speech is allowed to be heard. Which is true everywhere, even under despotism. They have not noticed the unpopular has become popular, and the eccentric and challenging people now have the whip hand.
Ah, but last night's talk given by Ben Shapiro was much calmer than recent events. Somebody must have gotten hold of the ANTIFA mayor. The police required the ANTIFA protesters to take off their masks, they prepared as they very well know how to do, and quickly arrested the few who got violent.
The solution to the problem of violence at demonstrations is for grown-ups to chat with the local mayor, city council, and police chief. The message is two-fold: Violence at demonstrations is bad for business, and city officials that are unable to keep the peace will be replaced at the next regularly scheduled election.
This solution works. That is why some cities have a reputation for riots, and others do not.
Valerie
Most of you will remember that Reagan was a CA Democrat at one time. There a dozens of reasons why he switched.
As someone who has lived in California my entire life, I can say that the problem is less the true believer leftists (probably about 10-15% of the voters), and more the people who live mostly as classical liberals, but either for virtue signaling, or misguided belief (or some combination of both) support the leftist agenda as it's advanced publically (more like 35%). They can be swayed, and things like Antifa being seem for who they really are, of late, are the kinds of things that can start to open their eyes to the fact that they aren't leftists and shouldn't be supporting leftist agenda items.
I wish someone like Koch with the money to do so would put out an ad campaign in California promoting classical liberal values and using the quotes of people like MLK and Kennedy who they think they respect to get the point across. I think that could move the needle significantly.
Agreed. I remember the days when Berkeley was the center of what they called "The Free Speech Movement."
When more of the people choose wickedness than virtue, I wonder what the Divine counsel will hand down as the judgment.
When I talked to some internationals, usually Europeans, a few years ago online, they spoke via audio about Baltimore riots and what not.
I kept telling them not to be worried, that is just the inner cities that ban militias and guns. If a riot happens in the sub urbs or where certain people live, you'll see execution scaffolds come up the same week, and before the news journalists even get there, it'll have been resolved.
That's why they riot in cities. It's where the money and victims are.
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