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Richard Stallman's Political Notes

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Demonizing sex workers

jeudi 31 décembre 2020 à 01:00

*Progressives Unveil New Bill to Investigate How Anti-Trafficking Law Has 'Demonized and Harmed' Sex Workers.*

The movement we need

jeudi 31 décembre 2020 à 01:00

*Bernie Sanders Is the Movement Candidate We Need.* He will be the president we need, and leads the movement we need.

Border thugs' union supported the bully

mercredi 30 décembre 2020 à 01:00

The border thugs' union acted as a political supporter of the bully.

Australia to increase coal extraction

mercredi 30 décembre 2020 à 01:00

Australia is set to increase its coal extraction in the coming decade.

The mine owners defend mining with willful blindness, such as, "This mine is a tiny fraction of the whole world's greenhouse gas emissions, so it is not a problem." By applying that argument to every mine, we would conclude that we should calm down and let fossil fuels cause a mass extinction and destroy civilization — which proves the argument is fallacious.

The article presents that argument without refuting it, but that is to be expected from a centrist medium such as CNN.

US monuments to the Confederacy

mercredi 30 décembre 2020 à 01:00

Protesters continue demanding the that Marshall County, Alabama, remove a monument to the Confederacy (and the Confederate flag) from its court house.

The excuse a counterprotester offered for keeping the monument is not valid. US monuments to the Confederacy were put up long after the Civil War, as a political statement. This one says, "Marshall County supports racism and Jim Crow." If the county means that, it deserves reproach. If the county does not mean that, it should take down the monument (and flag) to stop saying that.

I think it is a mistake to bring John Marshall into the matter. He had nothing to do with putting up the monument.

What should we say about John Marshall?

Marshall established judicial review by the Supreme Court as a legal principle of the US government, ending previous dispute about the question. He also owned slaves.

The former was a great contribution to justice for the United States, indeed for the whole world. The latter was an instance of a widespread unjust practice. Slavery overall was a great evil, but Marshall's part in it was not of special importance.

When an evil practice is the usual way of life, to reject it is to be a hero, but failure to be a hero does not make one a monster. Those who particularly championed slavery deserve particular condemnation even today, but there is no reason to focus on slavery when judging Marshall.

That is also my view regarding other moral issues, including the issue of software freedom. Developing and promoting nonfree software is a widespread continuing injustice. I condemn those who have championed it. Because it is not a thing of the past, I press people to recognize that it is wrong, and I urge them to stop developing and stop using nonfree software. But because it is a widespread practice, I do not revile people or refuse to be friends with them just because they use nonfree software, or even because they are employed to develop nonfree software. I'd be going too far if I did that.

Meanwhile, to the extent that people resist nonfree software, I express appreciation for their resistance, even if it is just a little. Because that is a start.