This blog is a individual, personal opinion. It may not match yours, and that's fine.
I mean, opinions are like arseholes... everybody has (or is 😁) one.
I have my personal opinion on politics and politicians. I prefer them somewhat center, neutral, looking at long term results, and not cyring out whatever gives them the most votes today, ignoring tomorrow.
This is not about politics
That sounds werid, but it's not.
This isn't about politics. This isn't about democrats versys republicans. This isn't about Europe vs the USA.
This is about free speech and fair play.
Hate speech
I also like to be able to share my opinion. The most dangerous people in this world are those that suppress other people's opinions. And be aware: having a different ideology, a different opinion, is not the same as hate speech.
Hate speech incites discrimination, villification, or even outright violence toward the target person or group. The goal is to cause harm.
Hate speech doesn't solve anything. Clear, support arguments, and factual numbers should be behind any decision, which in turn should lead to rational action.
Hate speech, and the resulting conflict, typically skips that one part: rationality.
Opinions
Saying that, for example, you are of the opinion that all foreigners should leave is your opinion, and that's a great opinion like anything else. But you have to explain that it is your opinion. And that it is your opinion doesn't make it a fact, so include that disclaimer.
You might be wrong. You might be ill informed. You might be lied to. You might simply not have listened properly.
Argument requires fact
Stating that all foreigners are rapists, thieves and killers (not necessarily in that order) is not an opinion. It's a statement. If you want to make such a statement you have to back it up.
You need facts. Real facts. Verifiable facts which are actually verified, and debunked if they are fake.
Fake news
Falsification, in any form, may lead you to a wrong conclusion. You should always analyse every bit of information - both the information that agrees, and the information that disagrees with your opinion - and wonder what the person who gives you that information tries to accomplish.
Never trust the people you agree with. Question their motives. Examine the counter arguments. They might be lying and you might be wrong.
If you blindly believe what you are told, then you will start believing any form of 'fake news', and you effectively have become a slave to whoever controls the messenger and the message.
Fake news is rarely factual. It is often made up, or based on pre-selected data that matches the message but does not necessarily match the full and complete truth.
Free speech
If someone disagrees with you, and he / she bases his / her opinion on facts, then that isn't hate speech. It isn't slander. It isn't an attempt to bring you down, or destroy the things you believe in. It simply is a different opinion, which may be voiced.
If that opinion is effectively unbased, biased, and worded in such a way that it is clearly only intended to hurt, harm, or cause conflict in some other way, then yes, that is hatespeech and should not be allowed.
In all other cases, an opinion should be respected - if it is founded - or laughed at - if it is clearly ridiculous - but it should not be banned.
From censorship to dictatorship
Things get morally gray - if not outright black - if one tries to silence any and all voices that disagree. When a state, a politician, a person, asks for prosecution or banishment of individuals who have a different opinion, then this is not simply censorship. If nobody is allowed to comment, question, or disagree, then we have reached a totalarian state. In such a state, the first thing you lose is your voice, and the next thing will be your freedom.
Foreign opinion
And that brings me to my final point: I am not a US citizen.,so am I allowed to have an opinion on the current state of the USA, its political system, its laws, its products, or not? Even more so, what if your activities and opinions actively affect my state of being?
I think I am. My opinion may differ from yours, but it is not an attack. It's just an opinion.
If you think I am not allowed to have an opinion on your affairs, then I would like to invite you (the accidental USA visitor to this blog, as small as that chance may be) to treat me the same way. Either we both have an opinion that we freely share, or we both keep our opinions to ourselfs and try not to impose our view up onto others.
You decide.
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