LogFAQs > #962913360

NeoSioType posted...

That protest wasn't one body. There were gay pride flags too. I can't say what they're thinking but I'm sure most people there weren't Nazi party sympathizers bent on genocide. Believing something like that is a caricature that I would expect from someone with dishonest intentions.

I'm sure they weren't all Nazis, but they all tolerated Nazis to enough of an extent to let them march with them. That, and the protest's organizers are overtly white supremacists (one of the parties involved explicitly lists "the advancement of the white Aryan race" as one of their core goals).

Nevertheless, you are correct that characterizing the whole thing as a bunch of Nazis to discredit them is not reasonable. Their relationship with Nazis may be questionable, and there's a much higher concentration of Nazis among this group than among the general population, but they nevertheless were not all Nazis. They are, however, all terrorists, by virtue of attacking the economy and innocent civilians under the pretense of forcing political change (the definition of terrorism). That's why I prefer to focus on the terrorism angle and only bring up Nazis when talking about the definite Nazis.

BEERandWEED posted...

Individuals should be allowed to make their own choices including wearing a mask or getting a vaccine without the government or society judging them for not following the trend or even a collective belief

Freedom of choice is not freedom from judgement. You may have the right to do stupid things, but you have no such right to not be called stupid for it, and you certainly have no right to not have people think you're stupid (since protecting that right would entail stripping everyone else of their freedom to think certain things).

Moreover, freedom of choice is not freedom from the consequences of that choice. The consequence of choosing not to take preventative measures during the greatest public health crisis in a century is that you are endangering others. Enforcement of those protective measures aims to counteract that consequence and protect other people from it (all of whom have a right to live their lives without being endangered by others). As the age-old saying goes, your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins: when exercising your freedoms risks hurting others, you shouldn't exercise those freedoms.