• qevlarr
    link
    English
    24
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    Britain is also pretty far on the police state track, if you ask me. It makes sense that these novels are from there. How they are criminalising public protest, journalism (hi Assange!), etc. They don’t realize that “see it, say it, sorted” is creepy as hell like it was lifted straight from 1984

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      89 months ago

      Oh yeah, and they’ve been at it for ages. Orwell and the others didn’t get his inspiration out of thin air.

      I remember in the nineties they were calling centralized CCTV surveillance “the fifth utility”, after electricity, water, gas and telephone.

      The Internet was already widely in use, but British MPs thought CCTV was more important I guess ;)

      • @TheGrandNagus
        link
        English
        1
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        Internet was provided by telephone infrastructure, so it got lumped in with that.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      2
      edit-2
      9 months ago

      I just wish people would recognize “Freedom of speech isn’t freedom from consequences” is one of the most fascist things ever said.

      Like, there are so many better ways to phrase the underlying thought that don’t sound like you’re about to sentence someone to the mines for insulting the state.

      “Freedom of speech isn’t a guaranteed platform”

      “Freedom of speech only applies to governmental censorship”

      “Freedom of speech applies to more people than just you, chucklefuck”

      Etc etc

      • Blóðbók
        link
        fedilink
        English
        2
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        I’m curious as to what you think about the actual meaning of those sentences, then. Do you think that there ought to be protection against consequences, regardless of what one says? Should there be any exceptions at all? What is the domain of applicability? Certain types of expression, certain types of topics, intended audience, etc?

        Edit: oh and what about freedom from? Is there any situation in which a person has a right to shut someone down from “expressing themselves” to them without their consent?