I passionately believe in freedom of speech and not just for my friends but also for my enemies. Not just for people who are right but also for people who are wrong and even for people who are vile and obnoxious.
One of the many reasons for my view is that freedom of speech enables us to identify the bad guys among us. Unfettered by laws or conventions they will, in the fullness of time, display their true colours. Freedom of speech is not just desirable, it is an essential tool of survival.
I am very glad the enviro-mentalists are able to speak their minds because that enables the sane among us to learn the extent of their psychosis. Let us ponder, for a moment, on this little gem:
“Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental. — Dave Forman, Founder of Earth First!
Enviro-mentalism is not just a ‘different viewpoint’; it is a deranged, homicidal death cult and should be treated as such.
Since these people have expressed a clear (and gleeful) desire to exterminate us all, I believe it to be of the utmost importance to ensure that they never acquire the means to do so.
In the meantime, I nominate this question for debate: Is shooting an enviro-mentalist a legitimate act of self-defence?
“I nominate this question for debate: Is shooting an enviro-mentalist a legitimate act of self-defence?”
Damned right it is!
Delusional rantings standing alone should not be actionable. However, if the holder of such views begins to act on them, he is quite literally the enemy of mankind and must be dealt with accordingly. Parenthetically, this is what must be expected then men of little wit cut themselves off from the religious underpinnings of civilization: it is not that they believe nothing, it is that they believe anything, even barbaric nature-worship.
But do we see Dave Forman volunteering to be first in line to take himself out of the picture? Of course not; he means all the rest of us should go first.
MommaBear would be absolutely delighted to do the hono(u)rs on his worthless carcass. She has just the equipment to accomplish that task with a maximum of mess left to clean up, afterwards.
What a cheap shot. You take one out of context statement from a leader of the extreme radical wing of the environmentalist movement and then use it to club environmentalism as a whole.
I could do the same thing to libertarianism (or any other movement) easily. It’s a pathetic tactic.
Jett: it seems to me all David was doing was pointing out that there is indeed this ultra-extreme wing of the environmentalist movement. I have not heard large numbers of more mainstream environmentalists lining up in collective fury to attack these people.
Given that David has lead the pack at Samizdata.net in challenging the barking moonbat faction within libertarianism, I fail to see why he should not do the same in this case.