Friday, December 24, 2004
Summed up nicely
This article and the comments which follow on Portland Indymedia sums up the problem beautifully.
This is then followed by a heated debate between those who agree they should tear down the Nazi posters and those who don't want to because that would be censorship man!
In other words, if you tear down a swastika poster, you are as intolerant as the person who put it up there. That is, if a Nazi puts up a poster and you tear it down, you are..... A Nazi.
And therein seems to be a recurring argument on Indymedia sites worldwide against limiting the obvious Nazi content which plagues them. Let me say this slowly:
Harrasment and hate-speech aren't the same as free-speech. Preventing hate doesn't make you a sellout.
How Jake and Elwood dealt with Nazis
The argument that we should merely expose fascists/Nazis/whatever and then debate them is also flawed for it's far easier (as I have seen repeatedly) for someone to rapid-fire post 50 hate-filled spews on 100+ Indy Media websites than it is to post a single well put counterargument. You will always be fighting a losing battle.
And one more thing, if you are going to offer a counterpoint, are anarchist flyers really the best you can come up with?
Nazi skinheads plan to vandalize the city with fliers dedicated to their cause in the "Flier Outreach Contest" at Gabriel Park, SW 45 & Vermont, Portland Oregon, Jan 8, 2005 at 1:00PM. Please join us to stop the hate. A bunch of musical bands and some other random people such as myself and a group of my friends will be there to protest their actions, rip off their fliers, and hand out anarchist pamphlets in response to this horrible event.
This is then followed by a heated debate between those who agree they should tear down the Nazi posters and those who don't want to because that would be censorship man!
I am glad to see that the people of Portland are organizing to oppose the ideas espoused by these facists. However, I don't agree with the idea of vandelizing their efforts to promote their ideals. Eventhough I find their ideas without value and completely disgusting I do respect their right to have and promote their values. Don't rip down their flyers, that's what an oppressive regime does when it is afraid of free speech. Let the Nazis post their flyers for everyone to see. Disagree with what they say, post your own flyers, but don't repress anothers ideas just becaue you don't agree with them, that is what Nazis do.
In other words, if you tear down a swastika poster, you are as intolerant as the person who put it up there. That is, if a Nazi puts up a poster and you tear it down, you are..... A Nazi.
And therein seems to be a recurring argument on Indymedia sites worldwide against limiting the obvious Nazi content which plagues them. Let me say this slowly:
Harrasment and hate-speech aren't the same as free-speech. Preventing hate doesn't make you a sellout.
The argument that we should merely expose fascists/Nazis/whatever and then debate them is also flawed for it's far easier (as I have seen repeatedly) for someone to rapid-fire post 50 hate-filled spews on 100+ Indy Media websites than it is to post a single well put counterargument. You will always be fighting a losing battle.
And one more thing, if you are going to offer a counterpoint, are anarchist flyers really the best you can come up with?
