• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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    24 hours ago

    You mean freedom of speech…

    I mean “posting online”.

    The freedom to speak truth to power without the goon squad kicking down your door?

    Has never existed in a practical sense within the United States. Not under Bush. Not under Eisenhower. Not under Woodrow Wilson. Not under James Buchanan. Not under John Adams.

    Americans have a long and storied history of arresting outspoken dissidents, assaulting them, and disappearing anyone who persisted.

    Clearly that is being eroded in the US right now

    We have more political prisoners in jail today than China has had since the end of the colonial era.