Hate the Haters
Geert Wilders is Dutch Member of Parliament, who is currently on trial for insulting Muslims and non-Western foreigners. Apparently, the Netherlands does not have an equivalent for the First Amendment of the Constitution of the USA, and being a loudmouth jerk over there is illegal.
Before you champion the silencing of loudmouth jerks with whom you disagree, bear in mind that silencing them implies silencing the loudmouth jerks with whom you agree.
For every Rush Limbaugh you silence, you silence a Louis Farrakhan, an Al Franken, a Llewellyn Rockwell, and an Al Sharpton.
The Wilders trial bears watching. Pity most individuals in the USA are largely unaware of the situation in Europe.
time stamp 3:44 : Not to make light of the situation, but citing Thomas Jefferson in this context is intriguing. I get how the sentiment is appropriate, but within the context of Dutch jurisprudence, it strikes as a bit of a non-sequitir.
time stamp 4:48 : “[I]f something is true, how can it be illegal?” If only the British with their farcical libel statutes saw the wisdom in that rhetorical question!
Metarchy is the principle that each individually should abide by the precepts that he or she espouses. For example, racists should be forbidden to live near or work with individuals of other ethnicities, communists’ property should be seized, the rude should be snubbed, etc.
Those who would silence others should be silenced.
In time, only those social systems that do not spin out of control under their own weight would prevail.
No need for prescriptive and detailed political theories here.
Metarchy is not teleological, but rather self-referential. A metarchist does not seek The Good, per se (although, no doubt, he or she has some operating hypotheses). The principle is more like a reversal of the Golden Rule delivered forcefully: Be done unto, as you would do unto others.
There is a world of difference between license and liberty. As long as individuals bear the costs of their actions and do not create negative externalities, let a thousand tasteless, perverted, venal flowers bloom.
However, one must bear in mind that value is subjective; one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Whether one is a libertarian, socialist, religionist, or whatever, if one tries to force The Good onto others, many of those others will interpret that as a negative externality and resist.
In the case of Geert Wilders, he is being accused of being anti-Islamist, racist, etc. However, a closer reading of the situation suggests that he is pushing back and is being judged by a different standard than that by which those whom he opposes wish to be judged.
More later, as this case develops.
Invest accordingly.
CWE
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