[throwaway420]

> Without names attached, people’s words become either mean — or meaningless.

The complete opposite is true.

The true meanlessness in society is the bland echo chamber on places like Facebook where everybody parrots the politically correct ideas they're told to say by the corporate media.

With real names and identities attached, most people are usually pressured away from saying any idea that goes outside of the narrow 3 x 5 Card of Official Approved Public Opinion. Real names and identities create an echo chamber of political correctness and trying your damnedest NOT to offend anybody lest you ruin your social or career prospects. Sure, some people trickle in truth sometimes, but enough people are silenced so that people who hold normal opinions are made to feel like they're the minority.

As far as meanness goes, sure freedom sometimes gives people the ability to say dumb things, but there's no way to curb that without restricting freedom. But honestly, the true meanness in society is not people telling the truth and leading them down a road to ruin. To give a very minor example: you're not supposed to say the truth about fat people because we have a body acceptance movement that has declared that everybody fat is beautiful and no choices are unhealthy. Wishing that something was the case doesn't make it so and denying reality and "not being mean" leads to people destroying their lives. The real mean thing in this case is to stay silent and deny reality and not tell the truth.

[GrinningFool]

> With real names and identities attached, most people are usually pressured away from saying any idea that goes outside of the narrow 3 x 5 Card of Official Approved Public Opinion.

I'm just wondering if you've looked at any hot topic that uses disqus or facebook for comments?

People aren't exactly reluctant to speak their minds, with their real names attached

[jameskegel]

a small subset does not justify the norm.

[throwaway420]

Sure, out of a population of a billion on Facebook, if even .1% speak their minds that's still a lot of people. That doesn't really negate my point that most people are silenced most of the time.

Also, who those people are is important. The smartest folks who have careers and a social reputation at stake are going to be less likely to contribute. The people who might be more willing to speak their mind on Facebook might not be the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Autism and craziness aside, if you want to discuss real ideas online you go to places like 4chan. You see memes and ideas created there pop up elsewhere on the internet days later.

[fatbird]

... says "throwaway420"

[throwaway420]

Stunning observation, but thanks for proving my point.

If my professional identity was on here, I wouldn't feel comfortable saying politically incorrect ideas.

[fatbird]

So you're too scared to tell the truth with your real name attached, thus empowering the apparently stifling political correctness you complain about? Wouldn't actually speaking up, ready to accept the social consequences, be the defiant act?

It's actually your opinion that I find much more threatening. You don't want the freedom to talk shit about fat people, which, honestly, is still pretty easy to do, and getting easier. You want my response to be acceptance of your political incorrectness. You want to cap my free speech so that you don't feel the social consequences of yours. You want a captive audience. Who's more of a danger to freedom of speech than you, who would take the right to respond away from everyone else if you had your way?

[throwaway420]

You make a valid point about defiance. The Overton window and the timing of ideas is something that I've thought about a great deal and I'm not going to dispute that. The real answer is that like most people I don't have "fuck you" money and speaking my mind publically would be a risk in this politically correct environment. One of the best things I feel Trump has done is started taking the lid off of that culture of political correctness and it might be getting easier in the future to speak your mind unless this "everybody I don't like is a Nazi, and it's ok to punch nazis" Antifa type of guided movement takes off.

I have no idea where you're getting this idea that I want to stiffle anybody's right to speak. If you want to use Facebook or not, it's your call and I've never said otherwise so you're wrong about that.

[fatbird]

My point is that your remedy for the problem of political correctness stifling you is for everyone else to act differently. You have unpopular opinions but you're afraid to voice them, and what you'd like is for people not to crap all over you when you voice them. You want a safe space for political incorrectness. What's more threatening to freedom of speech than safe spaces?