A freedom too far

Freedom of expression is a wonderful thing but those who advocate total tolerance at all costs base their arguments on the flawed assumption that everyone has something sensible and constructive to say, and that everybody is open-minded enough to accept others' opinions.

Many people are of the opinion that members of the extreme right should be left free to preach racial hatred and all the other rubbish because they believe that the most effective way to combat them is to come up with valid counter-arguments to let the public decide for itself what's right and what's wrong. True enough, if only everybody had a brain capable of logical thinking. However, there are some potentially dangerous people out there who have a perverted logic and are particularly receptive to far-right propaganda. Lecturing such people on basic human rights is akin to teaching the quantum theory to cockroaches - a complete waste of time.

Then there are others who, disillusioned with the traditional parties, vote for the fascists as a form of protest. Doubtlessly they do not mean any harm and only want the normal parties to get back to their senses so that they will vote for them again come the next election. The problem is that there wouldn't be another election should the fascists win one. History taught us that they always banned the opposition parties and brutally silenced everybody who dared not agree with them.

Therefore, whoever refuses to ban the far-right parties on the grounds of freedom of expression is indirectly undermining everybody else's freedom including her or his own. Unfortunately we are not living in an ideal world so not everybody should be left free to do what one likes if this could harm somebody else.

After all, isn't it a bit flattering for the far-right to have their perverse ideas perceived as an "opinion?". As a sticker I often see in Germany brilliantly puts it, "Fascism is not an opinion but a crime". Who would ever allow criminals the freedom to "express" themselves?