[mothballed]

Almost every bank in FATF white and gray list countries use the dollar in some way, so although your actions will help, in the end if you're sanctioned and you depend on traditional finance systems you are fucked.

There is a guy on here, weev (username rabite) who was soft sanctioned by the US and can't use banks that transact in the dollar. Last I read of his comments, he was in Ukraine or Transnistria, surviving off of crypto and direct rents from crypto purchased real estate.

[bjord]

all of the above is true, but just to be clear about who we're discussing, weev is a genuine neo-nazi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weev#Alt-right_affiliations

[zidad]

Sure, but clearly that is not a requirement to be sanctioned nowadays, it just shows how f*d you are when you DO get sanctioned, and the bar for that is lowering by the day it seems.

[bjord]

not arguing with the primary issue at hand, I just don't think we should be using a neo-nazi as the example

[mothballed]

The defense of the rights of alleged neo-nazis are a big reason why we have free-er speech in America. The ACLU defended them (see skokie nazis) and helped ensure more free speech in public forums. Dismissing the rights of alleged nazis is how rights get destroyed for everyone, although now in USA we use it for say allegedly "illegal" aliens or people that look foreign.

I assert, they are a perfect example.

[graemep]

He is nasty, but the problem is that the US can do it to anyone they please - as this case shows.

They have previously sanctioned other people within the ICC - the prosecutor and deputy prosecutor.

[mothballed]

Weev might be a real neo-nazi, but to be clear, right now an entire country (Ukraine) has also been claimed of being neo-nazis and life-altering state action taken against them without some due process to determine they are. Weev hasn't been convicted of anything serious (nor I think anything at all) that has stuck.

[bjord]

I'm not editorializing here. here's one of many examples:

"Please, Donald Trump, kill the Jews, down to the last woman and child. Leave nothing left of the Jewish menace..."

re: ukraine, I'm not sure how that's remotely relevant here and frankly I think you're doing ukrainians a profound disservice by comparing the two

if you look at my background, you'll see I understand this better than most

[mothballed]

Are you unaware that the exact same justification was used to attack the Ukrainian people? Your position here is weev is an actual neo-nazi while the Ukrainian people are not. I concede you are likely correct, and it is frankly obvious I'm not making the case they are compared as both being neo-nazis. It is still relevant because the failure mode is still paralleled, an accusation of neo-nazi and then serious state action taken without objective due process to ensure it is true.

By dismissing and frankly belittling my statement, you are falling for the same trap that justified so many dead Ukrainians.

[bjord]

I'm not and that's not my position. I thought I made it pretty clear in multiple previous comments that I think the way the US wields its power, especially considering the absolute lack of due process, is wrong. This French judge is a perfect example of some of the pitfalls and avenues for abuse.

I agree with your overall point (hence "all of the above is true") and am merely trying to make it clear that the guy you're talking about is a nazi and that I think it detracts from the argument. There are plenty of better examples.

[mothballed]

I used weev because he's an actual commenter here on HN, one I've interacted with before. There's nothing more to it than that, no nefarious scheme to showcase Nazis or something.

If you know any other HN users that are 'soft' sanctioned or worse, feel free to speak up and let me know there are better HN users to showcase.

[mrguyorama]

The difference is, when Russia and dumb US citizens say "Ukraine is a Nazis state" 1) they are outright lying and 2) Russians do not think of "Nazis" as meaning the same as what the rest of the world understands. Russians do not hate the Nazis for being genociding freaks, they hate them for being backstabbers.

Weev meanwhile is just a fucking Nazi. This exact thread is about a person who is not a Nazi facing persecution, and yet you go out of your way to use a literal and explicit Nazi as your example.

In fact, nearly every time I see people make this kind of "Oh it could happen to you, it happened to <X>" they seem to pick people who are damn Nazis.

Gee, I wonder why those are the cases they know about?

[peterfirefly]

SPLC seems to be the main source for that Wikipedia section. I don't trust them at all. They are known liars.

Secondly, where are his (justified!) rantings about the unfairness of the Treaty of Versailles?

Being nasty (or even evil) is not the same as being a Nazi. Being virulently anti-Jewish is not the same as being a Nazi. Belonging either in a mental institution (without internet access) or belonging in a prison (still without internet access) is not the same as being a Nazi.

There are so many different kinds of evil in this world. Don't pretend they are all Nazis.

[qingcharles]

"It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not-very nice people."

[habinero]

weev is not some dude with "not-nice" views. He's a sociopath who, among other things, threatened Kathy Sierra with rape and murder and published her address to his online fans to do the same. He would put her address on Craigslist and claim she was a sex worker.

He definitely deserves what he got.

[habinero]

Weev absolutely deserved to be unbanked, and he put himself in that position. He's not some freedom fighter.