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this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2024
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Unpopular Opinion
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Isn't that kind of the point of the concept of free speech though? Like, sure, you're welcome to your belief that Jews have secret, giant space lasers that are starting wildfires in California (because I guess Jews hate liberal mecca...?), or Haitian refugees are eating pets in Springfield, OH, or even shit like Churchill was the real genocidal maniac that murdered 6M Jews, Romani, gay people, autistic people, and other "undesirables", but if you want to express your minority views in public, you have to expect pushback. If ideas are good, and you can convince people that they're good, then your ideas should eventually be either tolerated, or become mainstream.
But if you don't want to exist in the marketplace of ideas, then... Don't.
It sounds as if you're describing something like a low moderation politics focused imageboard. I would say you are getting it backwards; untrue racist conspiracy theories win out in such an environment, which mostly does not select for good ideas, because the "marketplace" isn't about which arguments are good or anything like that, it's about shaming and demoralizing those who disagree, appealing to people's emotions, and projecting an impression of community consensus through high volume shitposting. Despite that there may not be direct removal of comments, such an environment effectively selects against minority (at least within that space) viewpoints by making it extremely unpleasant for anyone trying to express them, and by making sure it will at least seem like there are a larger number of people mocking them.
Needless to say, there are some problems with this way of doing it, and it's worth considering ways to not be like that.
My brother in Satan, these are literally the ideas that the US was founded on. That's what the 1st amendment is all about. If irrational, batshit crazy conspiracies are winning in the marketplace of ideas, then it's because people that are sane are doing a terrible job of leading people, and helping them to discover truth on their own.
I support and agree with the concept of free speech and the 1st (though this topic isn't really specifically about the US). But a culture of tolerance is important for free expression, which isn't really about overwhelming the "wrong" perspectives with mob rule. Downvoting all the vegan memes to make sure they don't forget people disagree with them isn't what I would describe as truth and leadership.