True. They stop short of banning conservative thought though, don't they?
See, to me that isn't really racism UNLESS it forbids the mixing of cultures altogether for reasons of 'cultural purity' or the like. There's nothing wrong with maintaining your cultural roots. There must be respect to other cultures and other peoples however.
I feel I've started this side-discussion arse-backwards a bit. I'm anti-censorship in a LOT of ways. There's even a thread here on SRP where I'm arguing FOR Dutch bigot Geert Wilders to be allowed to air his (to my mind) nonsense views on the evil of Islam.
Like yourself, actions concern me more than beliefs. But actions are FUELLED by beliefs, are they not? The trouble is defining the 'line' where beliefs become dangerous. Ten people shouting about the evils of immigration might seem fair enough. But if those ten people are stockpiling weapons in readiness for a massacre of immigrants then that obviously needs to be stopped.
Belief becomes action in some cases.
When others are hurt, that's crossing the line. When others are oppressed, that's crossing the line. I do realise it seems a paradox to be intolerant of intolerance in the name of tolerance but I believe there is right and there is wrong.
Good points, placebo. The idea of 'thought police' makes my blood run cold, and I don't like the idea that I myself seem to be advocating the concept - even if it seems benign to me.
I've travelled the world and I love contact with other cultures. To hate others, or even to discriminate against others due to superficial differences such as skin colour is to me so abhorrent I want to see this kind of thought and action eradicated wherever it stands. It's a scourge, a true scourge, on the face of this earth.
Reading The Dice Man's insights into life in France I realise there are massive social problems that arrive with the arrival of a different culture. The law seems to go easier on them than for the ordinary Parisian. Assimilation is a difficult thing for the new arrivals and the temptation to only associate with those of a similar background and establish enclaves of your own kind is extremely problematic for the host culture. Employment is an issue. You arrive and you can't find a job and you go on social security that's raised by taxes on the hard work of others.
Resentment grows.
It's all understandable as a cause-and-effect chain of events, and the trick is how to deal with it. You could tackle it through both cultures approaching each other with a view to educating each about the other and strengthen cross-cultural ties. Or you could blame them for every new ill the nation faces and wait for anger to rise and any policies favouring discrimination and cultural separatism to be justified by events.
A change of thought and approach may just help ease racial/cultural differences. Of course everyone needs to buy into the concept and that means either convincing or dismissing the 'Nah, they won't be reasoned with under any circumstance. We have nothing to discuss' crowd.
