I apologize. I admit I do not know the specific ins and outs of German law.
But I do know this: Germany, like every other country except the US, regulates political speech. And that's all the camel's nose needed to go after any counter-narrative voices. They are not coming after you because you violated some minor clause of this or that n…
I apologize. I admit I do not know the specific ins and outs of German law.
But I do know this: Germany, like every other country except the US, regulates political speech. And that's all the camel's nose needed to go after any counter-narrative voices. They are not coming after you because you violated some minor clause of this or that national law, they are doing so because you are their enemy, pure and simple. And the two simplest tools they have to attack you are a controlled media and a controlled judiciary.
Hey, same as we have here in America! But we also have the First Amendment, so it's a little more difficult for them here. They can (and have) silenced Americans, in some media, but it's gonna be much harder to get a prosecution in the absence of laws governing political speech.
As I said, I used to be a subscriber (maybe paid? I had a lot more paid subscriptions back in the day, I had to cut back!). I enjoyed your posts. I watched you during interviews. I am sympathetic with what is happening to you now, I agree it's bullshit. Be even back then, I remember shaking my head and thinking, "How is he going on like that in Continental Europe? At a time when even Canada is shutting down the bank accounts of political enemies and their sympathizers?"
If they are truly bullshit charges, I'm sure you will prevail in the courts, because Germany is a free and just nation of laws. Right?
Sorry to jump down your neck. I'm not in the best of moods. The US 1st Amendment is absolutely stronger than the European speech protections, but they do exist. Research Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is what most European countries have incorporated into their laws and constitutions.
And I'm sorry I even posted! As I mentioned elsewhere, I think what I'm responding to is the sense of outrage and surprise, and I just didn't find it very surprising outcome, not in Germany. Shitty, but not surprising.
But on reflection, we need people to take a stand, to take risks, to make a point. I just will never ask anyone else to be that guy, not if I'm not willing to do it myself.
Regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, let’s look at Article 19. It’s very well-written, clear and concise:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
Clearly any country that prohibits “hate speech,” as most European countries and Canada do, is not following this unambiguous declaration.
Maybe they are using Article 29 as a Get Out of Jail Free Card. So anything goes.
EU Human Rights law is worthless and counts for nothing. It may sound superficially like the Bill of Rights but the entire process is deeply ideological. ECHR had nothing to say about lockdowns, but has everything to say about the rights of illegal immigrants. The UK may soon leave the ECHR for this reason.
A concept of human rights that has nothing to say about mass imprisonment, shutdowns of businesses and civic life, systematic government-led censorship and making it mandatory to take experimental drugs is clearly not worth the paper it's written on. Violations of human rights are always justified by doing something for the greater collective good, so by not opposing these actions it showed that the ECHR is just yet another way to encode specific ideological preferences in institutions by pretending they will be fairly applied.
On the other hand, a subset of paranoid conspiracy theorists can always be counted on to view public health emergencies and their attending restrictions as ripe occasions to spin fresh conspiracy theories and, in general, get all whiny and asocial, pitch screechy hissy fits directed at the usual right-wing boogie-men because, you know, free-dumb, it ain't free and all that dreary and boorish fife-and-drum nonsense---you know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
And also, you know, libruls, gub'ment, white-smock clad evil scientists at work in their laboratories, evil grins affixed to their faces, rubbing their hands to together in cartoon fashion to demonstrate their malign intent, etc etc.
I've read the EU Human Rights. They are a joke because those in charge can and do slap any caveat they want on a 'right'. They do it all the time. In the US it's also become iffy. Case in point "InfoWars and Alex Jones". That verdict has never been challenged and it took a big chunk out of our 1st Amendment. It is all going to be down hill from now on.
I apologize. I admit I do not know the specific ins and outs of German law.
But I do know this: Germany, like every other country except the US, regulates political speech. And that's all the camel's nose needed to go after any counter-narrative voices. They are not coming after you because you violated some minor clause of this or that national law, they are doing so because you are their enemy, pure and simple. And the two simplest tools they have to attack you are a controlled media and a controlled judiciary.
Hey, same as we have here in America! But we also have the First Amendment, so it's a little more difficult for them here. They can (and have) silenced Americans, in some media, but it's gonna be much harder to get a prosecution in the absence of laws governing political speech.
As I said, I used to be a subscriber (maybe paid? I had a lot more paid subscriptions back in the day, I had to cut back!). I enjoyed your posts. I watched you during interviews. I am sympathetic with what is happening to you now, I agree it's bullshit. Be even back then, I remember shaking my head and thinking, "How is he going on like that in Continental Europe? At a time when even Canada is shutting down the bank accounts of political enemies and their sympathizers?"
If they are truly bullshit charges, I'm sure you will prevail in the courts, because Germany is a free and just nation of laws. Right?
Sorry to jump down your neck. I'm not in the best of moods. The US 1st Amendment is absolutely stronger than the European speech protections, but they do exist. Research Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is what most European countries have incorporated into their laws and constitutions.
And I'm sorry I even posted! As I mentioned elsewhere, I think what I'm responding to is the sense of outrage and surprise, and I just didn't find it very surprising outcome, not in Germany. Shitty, but not surprising.
But on reflection, we need people to take a stand, to take risks, to make a point. I just will never ask anyone else to be that guy, not if I'm not willing to do it myself.
Regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, let’s look at Article 19. It’s very well-written, clear and concise:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
Clearly any country that prohibits “hate speech,” as most European countries and Canada do, is not following this unambiguous declaration.
Maybe they are using Article 29 as a Get Out of Jail Free Card. So anything goes.
Mitch, please don't be sorry for posting. Your insights (painful though they are) have helped move this conversation forward.
I agree. As an American, I am learning so much from this exchange.
EU Human Rights law is worthless and counts for nothing. It may sound superficially like the Bill of Rights but the entire process is deeply ideological. ECHR had nothing to say about lockdowns, but has everything to say about the rights of illegal immigrants. The UK may soon leave the ECHR for this reason.
Why would the ECHR address lockdowns?
A concept of human rights that has nothing to say about mass imprisonment, shutdowns of businesses and civic life, systematic government-led censorship and making it mandatory to take experimental drugs is clearly not worth the paper it's written on. Violations of human rights are always justified by doing something for the greater collective good, so by not opposing these actions it showed that the ECHR is just yet another way to encode specific ideological preferences in institutions by pretending they will be fairly applied.
On the other hand, a subset of paranoid conspiracy theorists can always be counted on to view public health emergencies and their attending restrictions as ripe occasions to spin fresh conspiracy theories and, in general, get all whiny and asocial, pitch screechy hissy fits directed at the usual right-wing boogie-men because, you know, free-dumb, it ain't free and all that dreary and boorish fife-and-drum nonsense---you know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
And also, you know, libruls, gub'ment, white-smock clad evil scientists at work in their laboratories, evil grins affixed to their faces, rubbing their hands to together in cartoon fashion to demonstrate their malign intent, etc etc.
Your reply doesn't seem to be connected to anything I wrote.
Keep trying.
I've read the EU Human Rights. They are a joke because those in charge can and do slap any caveat they want on a 'right'. They do it all the time. In the US it's also become iffy. Case in point "InfoWars and Alex Jones". That verdict has never been challenged and it took a big chunk out of our 1st Amendment. It is all going to be down hill from now on.
Was Article 19 invoked by your legal team?