Usually, a post from The Economist doesn't get a lot of engagement. That's understandable because their takes are usually steaming piles of trash and the textbook definition of hypocrisy. Like the time they said stopping trillions in foreign aid actually hurts America, or when they were hand-wringing about the 'responsible' use of presidential pardon power.
They're back, to claim that it's Europe and not America that's now 'the land of the free:'
In its own plodding way, the continent has created a place where people are guaranteed rights to what others yearn for: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) April 12, 2025
Illustration: Peter Schrank pic.twitter.com/tKWpScdNs6
The thing about Europe, the sneerers say, is that it is over-regulated. Mounds of red tape and punitive taxes mean there are no trillion-dollar entrepreneurial ventures in France or Germany to match Amazon, Google or Tesla. But that is not all Europe is lacking. Also absent from the continent are the broligarchs who sit atop such behemoths, some of whom have a tighter grip on power than on reality. There are thus no European Rasputins pumping untold millions into political campaigns, getting pride of place at leaders’ inaugurations or their own new-minted government departments to run. There are few unicorns in Europe, alas, and too little innovation. That said, there are absolutely no tech executives boasting on social media of spending their weekends feeding bits of the state 'into the wood chipper.'
...
The thing about Europe is that it lacks an absolutist attachment to free speech. See how judges in Romania and France derailed the careers of hard-right politicians, who have convinced themselves (with little evidence) that it was their ideology rather than their lawbreaking that got them in trouble. Yet to many Europeans the idea that free expression is under threat seems odd. Europeans can say almost anything they want, both in theory and in practice. Europe’s universities never became hotbeds of speech-policing by one breed of culture warrior or the other. You can express a controversial view on any European campus (outside Hungary, at least) without fear of losing your tenure or your grant. No detention centres await foreign students who hold the wrong views on Gaza; news outfits are not sued for interviewing opposition politicians. Law firms are not compelled to kow-tow to presidents as penance for having worked for their political foes.
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They'll put people in jail for memes, but go on.
lol come on https://t.co/hX9of8O1Ux
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 13, 2025
They're so stupid and hypocritical.
Being a leftist requires insane amounts of pretending.
— Paterfamilias (@PaterFam27) April 13, 2025
It really does.
— Spencer (Florida/Man) (@IslandDog) April 13, 2025
Wut, indeed.
You put people in prison for unapproved Tweets.
— Will Collier (@willcollier) April 13, 2025
They sure do.
Not pictured: Drawing of Mohammed.
— Charles DeGlopper (@bronzebarbarian) April 13, 2025
Ask the folks at Charlie Hebdo how free they were.
Oh, wait. You can't.
I bet the British government is combing thru the naughty replies, looking for people to imprison.
— Angela McArdle (@RealAngelaMc) April 13, 2025
Wouldn't surprise us at all.
If I live in Europe, can I publicly state that MENA migrants in Europe are not only a net fiscal drain on EU countries but also struggle to assimilate into European societies without getting arrested or my speech suppressed? pic.twitter.com/VyGD83fPpd
— @evolian 🧬📊 (@gen0m1cs) April 13, 2025
Nope. That'd be a racist hate crime.
I miss the days when the propaganda was a little more subtle. https://t.co/SrMzM4u7zx
— Penny (@pennyelizabeths) April 13, 2025
So do we.
In Germany they arrest people for criticizing their elected officials on social media. https://t.co/IotD8haUnM
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 13, 2025
Just amazing.
You can be imprisoned for a meme. https://t.co/9wRfUWOTBo
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 13, 2025
But it's FREE!
Because Trump!
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