You can't censor away extremism or any other problem
I keep coming back to whether people in general still think open mindedness is a virtue. By open mindedness, I mean open to new experience, open to new ideas, open to new people. Practicing openness means observing and hearing and then evaluating for yourself whether you want to assimilate the experience or idea into your life.<p>Open mindedness also means being open to new information, even if it contradicts a basis for what you already believe or practice. If we are not open to contradiction, we can never recognize when we are <i>wrong</i> about what we believe. Being wrong about what we believe leads to doom for societies.<p>Hate is expressed in many ways, some nuanced, some not. But I have confidence that I can witness it, identify it, and categorize for myself. Allowing others to control what I am exposed to means I am no longer in control of what I know and believe. We&#x27;ve seen this creeping definition of hate over the last so many years. It&#x27;s modulated to the point that I don&#x27;t know what people mean any longer when they claim &#x27;racism&#x27; for example, yet they prevent me from seeing or reading examples, even so I can just identify it and judge for myself.<p>Freedom means determining for yourself what is and is not hate. Having it hidden from you takes that freedom away.<p>It is our responsibility as free persons to learn how to observe and judge what should and should not be part of our lives. Collectively, we will keep hate at bay simply by recognizing it <i>for ourselves</i> and not assimilating it into our lives.