Germany cracks down on speech
Deutsche World reported today that the German parliament overwhelmingly passed a law adding restrictions to freedom of assembly and nazi speech. From the article:
The arguments in favor of this law seem to be given without any sort of thought.
It was reassuring to see that there were serious concerns about the bill being allowed under the constitution, and that it may well be struck down. I don't have any sympathy for holocaust supporters, but I do have sympathy for any nation without freedom of speech and assembly.
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On an unrelated note, I've been listening to German internet radio to get a feel for the language, especially pronunciation. The news sites are good, of course, as newscasters tend to use precise language.
The contemporary music sites have been less help than I thought. Well over 3/4 of the music is English. The genre is best described as pop; one song was called "Three is Family" by Dana Dawson . I've had somewhat better luck with the news/oldies station. After 10 minutes of music, basically '60s-'80s pop, I'm only now hearing the second English song, Concrete and Clay by Honkong Syndicat. Like the contemporary music, I haven't heard any of this stuff before.
After weeks of heated debate, members of Germany's ruling government coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens as well as the conservative opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) on Friday voted overwhelmingly in favor of tightening the right of assembly and making changes to the existing criminal code.
The arguments in favor of this law seem to be given without any sort of thought.
Most parties on Friday hailed the vote as a boost to democracy. "We'll have a few additional possibilities in the future to prevent Nazi mischief on our streets and squares," said Dieter Wiefelspütz, SPD domestic policy expert.
While the article reports that Holocaust deniers have been active recently in Germany, the follow-the-party-line attitude that the article portrayed in the nation and it's leaders reminded me of the novel 1984, in which everything Big Brother says is parroted and parroted without question. And various entities admitted in the article that the new law may not be effective. While these restrictions may improve order, they are not "a boost to democracy" as the article said. They are a restriction to democracy.
It was reassuring to see that there were serious concerns about the bill being allowed under the constitution, and that it may well be struck down. I don't have any sympathy for holocaust supporters, but I do have sympathy for any nation without freedom of speech and assembly.
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On an unrelated note, I've been listening to German internet radio to get a feel for the language, especially pronunciation. The news sites are good, of course, as newscasters tend to use precise language.
The contemporary music sites have been less help than I thought. Well over 3/4 of the music is English. The genre is best described as pop; one song was called "Three is Family" by Dana Dawson . I've had somewhat better luck with the news/oldies station. After 10 minutes of music, basically '60s-'80s pop, I'm only now hearing the second English song, Concrete and Clay by Honkong Syndicat. Like the contemporary music, I haven't heard any of this stuff before.
posted by Derby at 00:55
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