[dredmorbius]

I've sided with the EFF on many, many, many causes.

I've sided against Google on numerous causes.

The EFF are wrong. Google is correct.

And yes, the reasons are complicated. But "slippery slope" is a facile fallacy.

Ultimately, society can, does, and must defend itself from attacks. Including attacks on the underprivileged (of whom the Fascists and Nazis at question here are not).

The history of media and new-media utilisation in demagoguery, totalitarianism, mob incitement and rule, and fascism is rich. It should give strong cause to pause to those who've sung (and believed) the narrative of the all-positive, peace-and-harmony bringing Internet. As I long had.

And am now pausing.

Epistemic systems gain significance when they can be abused for personal, political, nationalistic, or fascistic gain. That was the insight of a friend of mine some months back. Call it "the paradox of epistemic systems".

This includes Hacker News itself, which seems to have quite the fascist problem, and an unwillingness, at the moderator level itself, to face that, over concerns of "dignity".

Those concerns are very, very, desperately and sadly misplaced.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/5wg0hp/when_ep...

https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/6ufeu1/does_ha...

[piaste]

> This includes Hacker News itself, which seems to have quite the fascist problem

And here we go.

For all the people who (correctly) wondered "how broad will the definition of 'nazi' get", well, parent just helpfully illustrated it for you. The Hacker News comments section has been declared full of fascist unpersons who must be silenced at all costs.

But remember:

> But "slippery slope" is a facile fallacy.

[anigbrowl]

Far from it. You're equating the observation that a fascist tendency exists with an unjust accusation of participation therein. You're also conflating advocacy of ideology with essential personal characteristics.

[tnone]

The way you get people to not care about real Nazis is to cry wolf every time you encounter a political position you don't like.

If we apply those same standards to antifa, they too are a violent, irrational hatemob with blood on their hands. The only difference is they have nice excuses about how it's ok when they do it because of systemic oppression. Even as they wield establishment power against their opponents.

Neonazis are not a significant threat. An abandonment of enlightenment values due to media induced hysteria is. We already saw what passes for unacceptable speech with Damore, even if it's eminently reasonable and moderate. The same people who can whip up a giant shitstorm over nothing are now saying you should trust them in knowing what fascism is.

No thank you. If you justify the means with the ends, you enable people who thrive in such an environment, and they are far more dangerous and insidious than a neonazi clearly advertising being an intolerant twat.