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by mseebach2 4956 days ago
> Hate speech and anti-discrimination laws have drastically improved the lives of millions of people in the UK.

Cause and effect, dude. This happened in the same time frame in virtually every single developed country on earth with different ways of approaching the issue. Chances are that being more tolerant was simply just an idea whose time had come.
2 comments
objclxt 4956 days ago
Certainly true, but the switch doesn't simply flip overnight. Take the US: the impact the Civil Rights Act had is immeasurable.

Laws can and do cause drastic change. I think we could safely say that if hypothetically the supreme court was to find prohibiting same-sex marriage as unconstitutional the impact would be far more immediate and greater than legislating on a state-by-state ad hoc basis.

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illuminate 4951 days ago
"Chances are that being more tolerant was simply just an idea whose time had come."

Society does not move to a predetermined end, and we will not be "better" off without protections of civil rights. That statement is dangerous because it assumes that there are not forces and persons who wish to regress.

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