They Thought They Were Free (1955) • Hacker News Board

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#431

Post by bborud » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:02 PM UTC

senordevnyc wrote: post #388

bborud wrote: post #323

The shocking thing isn't that fascism would come back. The shocking thing is that the people I thought were smart would allow it to normalize so fast and give up without a fight. And that even some people I know are apparently fascists at heart - they just needed "permission" to show themselves. For most of my teens I wondered what side I would have been on in 1930s Germany. If I would have had the courage to stand u…

If almost everyone has disappointed you, then perhaps the issue lies with your expectations. Just like the boiling frog, perhaps our evolution has not prepared us to take courageous action in situations like this.

This is not a frog boiling situation. This is much, much faster.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#432

Post by hagbard_c » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:05 PM UTC

nkrisc wrote: post #70

hagbard_c wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Is "gender ideology" what we're now calling the idea that a tiny minority of people want to live their lives a little differently that the rest of us without harming anyone and mostly be left alone?

https://thecritic.co.uk/cancel-culture-in-academia/

If you honestly do not know what is meant by this term this article contains a good number of references to other articles and studies from which you should be able to form an idea of what is covered under the term gender ideology.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#433

Post by hagbard_c » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:09 PM UTC

madaxe_again wrote: post #68

hagbard_c wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Look, I don’t say this to be cruel, I say this to be kind. Someone once said similar to me and it helped me enormously: The reason your life sucks is you. Not anybody else. You. You are in complete control of your destiny. That is all.

Why are you trying to diagnose a person over the 'net? What makes you think some other person's life sucks? What makes you think that if some other person's life 'sucks' that is only caused by that person's own (in)actions or thoughts?

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#434

Post by thrance » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:12 PM UTC

ryeats wrote: post #141

I think it has been happening for a while now cancel culture had a very negative effect on academia Jordon Peterson and Warren Smith being examples of that. I much appreciate Dr. Sam Richards who walks the fine line of trying to be centerist but he did comment recently how he does gets hate from both sides. Now I know this is going to be down voted because some will say I am both sidesing this when it's clearly one s…

Jordan Peterson is very much proof that "cancel culture" as it exists in the right's collective imagination never existed. A completely clueless guy that holds backward views from centuries past, that can still find an audience and be hailed as a "great intellectual" among the equally clueless people he appeals to.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#435

Post by hagbard_c » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:13 PM UTC

immibis wrote: post #47

hagbard_c wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

First they came for those who thought the sky was pulsating green, but I did not speak out for I did not dare to question the blue sky narrative. Then they came for those who thought the earth was flat, but I did not speak out for I did not dare to question the round earth narrative. Then they came for those who thought the internet was carried by little elves, but I did not speak out for I did not dare to question t…

True, the ones you mentioned here come straight from the land of Fairy while the ones I mentioned all come from real life, warts and all. If anyone outside of the Dept. of Literature or that of Psychology were to struggle with the ideas you mentioned they'd be better of in either one of the mentioned departments or outside of academia.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#436

Post by thrance » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:16 PM UTC

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS wrote: post #207

herval wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US has always been a very moralistic country. From banning alcohol and burning witches to its long struggle to accept differences (in skin color, gender or even the definition of freedom). “Cancel culture” is part of America since its foundation. It’s a moral tug of war. It’s a different thing altogether to have the government itself weaponize “cancel culture”, however. As much as right wing people like to scream…

> little evidence of the same level of systemic abuse You not looking for it doesn't mean "little evidence." It's well documented that the previous administration pressured social media to silence views it didn't like, as well as instances of debanking conservative organizations. That's not to say this administration doesn't throw its weight around, too, but to think it's only one side make you complicit in the probl…

> It's well documented that

Show us, then. There's nothing as egregious as what the right is currently doing to be found in the archives, and you know it.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#437

Post by Hikikomori » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:29 PM UTC

exoverito wrote: post #390

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like a lot of what you are saying. But sadly I think it is an older view. Maybe this was true in 80's before social media. "American people are stubbornly allergic to authoritarianism" Literally 40%+ of Americans have voted for Authoritarianism. It's viewed as being 'tough'.

There is no anti-authoritarian party. Are lockdowns not authoritarian? Do mandates to take an experimental vaccine not violate bodily autonomy? How quickly everyone forgets the widescale censorship and lawfare. Snowden had to flee the country and Chelsea Manning was imprisoned during the Obama presidency. On a more pragmatic level, take the one-party state of California, and the absurd burden of its regulations. Thes…

One side wants to impose restrictions to avoid loss of life and breakdown of the hospitals. The other wants some people to not exist anymore and are building camps to accomplish that.

Shut the fuck up about both sides being the same.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#438

Post by qcnguy » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:35 PM UTC

permo-w wrote: post #206

kangs wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a lot of the western world learns only speaks about ww2 (let alone ww1, americans civil war, etc.). there has been countless western and non western wars with slightly different patterns and a taste of "winner writes history". one i find interesting is the french revolution. its also fairly recent, but not as tampered with as ww2 history. for example, there still are records of how terrible and cruel the revolutionar…

what elements of WW2 history are you suggesting are most tampered with?

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Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#439

Post by impossiblefork » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:37 PM UTC

analog8374 wrote: post #324

impossiblefork wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland is obviously ruled by the masses, and that is freedom for those masses, so I think what you say here is quite false.

I can't tell if you're being ironic.

It's not sarcasm. I believe that the mass of Swiss people rule Switzerland in practice and have the ability to overrule their government if it proposes a measure they dislike.

Re: They Thought They Were Free (1955)

#440

Post by qcnguy » Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 9:45 PM UTC

mallowdram wrote: post #95

nataliste wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was reading the comments from the past times this was submitted, and I just wanted a reason to draw attention to this comment from 2020: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25083315#25104589

We're seeking narrative to explain how and why these things are happening when narratives are how they are happening. When a species relies on inferior and limited tools, it suffers from their use. When the tool is seamless with the problem, it destroys us without us becoming aware. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/15/jd-vance-lie... This article is all we need to know about fascism, the candidate admits…

The Guardian is misleading you. Vance was referring to story in the news sense, not "admitting" that he makes things up. The original video of what he said is here:

https://x.com/HunnyBplus3/status/1835326924597366869

JD Vance: "Dana, [stories about Haitians in Springfield] come from first hand accounts of my constituents. I say that we're creating a story meaning we're creating the American media focusing on it. I didn't create 20,000 illegal migrants coming into Springfield, Kamala Harris' policies did that, but yes, we created the actual focus that allowed the American media to talk about this story."

> The central problem is epistemological

Yes!