Drunken Lullabies
I was listening to this song by the floblots, and had never heard of Anne Braden. Naturally wikipedia was able to help…
If this is accurate, an American was thrown in jail for selling his house to another American. Power was used to maintain injustice. I am always and forever terrified of being on the wrong side of power– and so for that reason I’ve always been _very_ supportive of free speech.
The problem comes when people who have no interest in discussion seek to drown out the voices of those who do. Speech is then used against itself to the edification of no one. For a free-speech fetishist like myself, this presents a problem: how do I keep a conversation moving when the trolls show up– without destroying the right of a troll to speak. After all: the person may not be a troll, but merely have (true) ideas I find repugnant. What if I am on the wrong side of history?
One solution which presents itself is disemvoweling. “Offending” comments are still there, and if there is truth, it will shine through. But no one will struggle to read asshole comments. I think it’s a good compromise. If there is a better idea, please let me know in the comments…
(updated within 30min. of posting. For clarity)