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Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,

The freedom to say whatever we want is one of the most fundamental rights in a free society.  If we are not free to speak up, it is is just a matter of time before all of our other rights are taken away as well.  So it should deeply alarm all of us that free speech is under attack like never before.  Much of the population has become convinced that “hate speech” is a special class of speech that does not deserve protection.  Of course in practice “hate speech” ends up being whatever forms of expression that the leftist elite hate.  That is why “hate speech” laws are always written so vaguely.  That way they can be used to go after whoever the leftist elite feel like going after at the time.

It is not always easy to have a society where people are allowed to say whatever they want.  People say things all the time that deeply, deeply offend me.  And there are some that have said things about me that are tremendously hateful and untrue.

But if we are going to have a free society, people have got to be free to say whatever they want.  So we should never support freedom of speech being taken away from anyone, because once we start going down that slippery slope it is just a matter of time before they come after our freedom to say what we want.

That is why what is happening in the state of Washington is so alarming.  A new law would allow private individuals to collect up to $2,000 every time they report someone to the new “hate crimes and bias incidents hotline”…

This is crazy.

Do we live in East Germany now?

It has been pointed out that those that use social media could make a fortune reporting their fellow citizens to the new “tattletale hotline”…

Of course we have seen similar efforts in other states.

In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul intends to massively expand the hate crime laws in her state…

And in Michigan, last year a bill was introduced that would have made it a felony if someone felt “terrorized, frightened, or threatened” by your words…

I certainly do not like hate speech.

Every day, people say things that are horribly offensive to me.

But I support their right to say those things, because I don’t want my freedom of speech to be taken away.

And the leftist elite will never be satisfied until they take things as far as they possibly can.

For example, a new law in Canada allows courts to put people in prison for the rest of their lives for “hate crime offenses”…

So what constitutes a “hate crime” in Canada?

Well, over the years the rules have been written so vaguely that they could be used to go after just about anything.

As a result, many Canadians are now deeply afraid to say anything that is even remotely “offensive”.

Now this new law which is being pushed by Justin Trudeau will make things even worse.  If you can believe it, this new law would actually allow authorities to take certain kinds of actions even before a hate crime has been committed…

What in the world has happened to Canada?

Once upon a time, it was such a nice place to visit.

The laws that seek to restrict how we express ourselves are never enforced uniformly.

Instead, we have seen example after example where conservatives are specifically targeted.

Here in the United States, the left believes in being very soft on violent criminals, but they will go after pro-life activists with all the fury they can muster.

Right now, a 59-year-old grandmother is probably going to spend the rest of her life in prison because she was attempting to convince women not to go into an abortion clinic…

More than 60 million babies have been killed in the United States since 1973, but those responsible for the killing are not being held accountable.

Instead, those that are trying to do something about the relentless slaughter are being viciously targeted by authorities.

We really do live in an upside down society.

Good is being called evil, and evil is being called good.

And if you try to speak out about what is happening, you could find yourself in an enormous amount of trouble.

They intend to completely crush all dissent, and they will never stop until they have achieved their goal.

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Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.