[quote=Vortex]This is a turn in conversation I know but bear with me. The Australian Government is seeking to allow racism and homophobia "legal" as it "infringes on the liberties of the Australian people". Like all things the current Australian Government says I disagree with, but honestly why should somebody in a minority have to put up with all the crap they receive from the white majority? Thoughts?[/quote]

[quote=Pepperm1nts]
That's a tricky subject. In the US, things like that are allowed. Neo-Nazis can march just about everywhere, for example. All in the name of Freedom of Speech.
[/quote]

Speaking as a Jew, I'm fine with neo-nazis marching in this country. They make asses of themselves every time they do it. So long as law enforcement puts a boot to their necks every time they dare to break a law I do not worry about them.

Which they do, as of right now, in Murika.

I do not fear freedom of speech. I fear the loss of impartiality in its enforcement. That's why I am a huge supporter of the ACLU and other civil liberties organizations. I don't care if some addle-pated meth-addict skinhead hates my fucking existence so long as he has to obey the law and not act on those impulses.

So I do not see the problem with letting extremists rant. I have a problem with giving them slack under the law that is not afforded to anyone else. That happened in 1920's Italy, Weimar Germany and, currently, in Russia with certain paramilitary organizations (Blackshirts, brownshirts, orthodox groups) being given a form of sanction by the government that chooses not to go after these groups when they rough up certain groups and have defacto immunity in the process, despite the laws on the book. 

This is where I start to worry about things going sideways -- when the government sponsors these things. Incidentally, that was what a lot of people found repugnant about the American South prior to the CRA -- the Klan operated as an unofficial branch of the local governments in a lot of cases, with people in elected political power also holding membership in the Klan and giving them cover from the consequences of their actions. Nowadays, the Klan has the same problems everyone else does -- if they attack someone, they get hauled in for it. That's good enough for me. I don't need them to go away, I just need them to be subject to the same laws that I have to obey.