It IS about being able to say whatever you want. That strongly implies a lack of consequence FOR speaking, which correlates strongly with a lack of monitoring and policing for the purpose of exacting consequences for every utterance. All of these serve the primary goal of encouraging an individual to express thoughts rather than curtail them with the presumption that for a culture that is a net-positive at the ultimate scale.
The philosophy of "freedom of speech" is a practical expression of the belief that when unfettered by codes and dictates, an individual will achieve the greatest heights in thought, and finally action. It literally is an actual encouragement to "say whatever you want."
It IS about being able to say whatever you want. That strongly implies a lack of consequence FOR speaking
The left is all about rejecting obvious premises though. It used to be understood that a CULTURE of free speech was necessary in America, but they're all fine with de facto speech regulation since the government isn't doing the enforcement.
And ideological libertarians (intelligent morons) played into their hands for years. Someone tell me if the husband of a doctor saw the light or if he's still judging censorship on a case-by-case basis like a judge at the Olympics.
Failure to gatekeep. We fell to the bad faith behavior of the left because we didn't gatekeep them. Live and let live only works if everyone involved abides by it. The key point of that is if you fail to enforce it, you're just giving the enemy free reign.
The Left were the ones that claimed they were the live and let live types, that it was the evil conservatives and religious people oppressing our freedoms.
Now that they got into power, suddenly it's, "live as I demand you live and act and speak as I see correct or you will be punished through various exojudicial (if not actual judicial) bodies."
Ultimately it is the government doing the enforcement. Anyone who pretends that Google, Facebook, Twitter are just independently deciding what to do is an obvious liar / shill.
At the time of the Constitution, the only forces that ever could punish you for free speech were government forces.
You might piss off a neighbor, or a pastor, or a store owner, but that's not the end of the story.
Today, global non-government institutions can effectively murder you. Make it impossible to have a bank account, impossible to buy goods, impossible to pass a background check, impossible to do just about anything to thrive. Sure, there's growing your own food, using precious metals for trade, but that's merely survival, not thriving.
It IS about being able to say whatever you want. That strongly implies a lack of consequence FOR speaking, which correlates strongly with a lack of monitoring and policing for the purpose of exacting consequences for every utterance. All of these serve the primary goal of encouraging an individual to express thoughts rather than curtail them with the presumption that for a culture that is a net-positive at the ultimate scale.
The philosophy of "freedom of speech" is a practical expression of the belief that when unfettered by codes and dictates, an individual will achieve the greatest heights in thought, and finally action. It literally is an actual encouragement to "say whatever you want."
The left is all about rejecting obvious premises though. It used to be understood that a CULTURE of free speech was necessary in America, but they're all fine with de facto speech regulation since the government isn't doing the enforcement.
And ideological libertarians (intelligent morons) played into their hands for years. Someone tell me if the husband of a doctor saw the light or if he's still judging censorship on a case-by-case basis like a judge at the Olympics.
Failure to gatekeep. We fell to the bad faith behavior of the left because we didn't gatekeep them. Live and let live only works if everyone involved abides by it. The key point of that is if you fail to enforce it, you're just giving the enemy free reign.
The Left were the ones that claimed they were the live and let live types, that it was the evil conservatives and religious people oppressing our freedoms.
Now that they got into power, suddenly it's, "live as I demand you live and act and speak as I see correct or you will be punished through various exojudicial (if not actual judicial) bodies."
Ultimately it is the government doing the enforcement. Anyone who pretends that Google, Facebook, Twitter are just independently deciding what to do is an obvious liar / shill.
At the time of the Constitution, the only forces that ever could punish you for free speech were government forces.
You might piss off a neighbor, or a pastor, or a store owner, but that's not the end of the story.
Today, global non-government institutions can effectively murder you. Make it impossible to have a bank account, impossible to buy goods, impossible to pass a background check, impossible to do just about anything to thrive. Sure, there's growing your own food, using precious metals for trade, but that's merely survival, not thriving.
If enough people do it, it could be thriving, but if enough people do it, the government steps in.