# Should we ban the ideology of Nazism/White Supremacy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 13, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578 "2017-08-13T20:02:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/201 "2017-08-17T22:10:54Z")
No ideologies should be “banned”. What happens if someone comes along and decides Liberalism needs to be banned? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/202 "2017-08-17T22:24:32Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > No ideologies should be “banned”. What happens if someone comes along and decides Liberalism needs to be banned? Doubtless someone will come along with a patient explanation of why Liberalism meets an objective standard of universal decency, thus putting it above a mere “ideology”. ( :rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/203 "2017-08-18T01:38:53Z")
Reminds me of Popper’s views concerning tolerance: > **[Paradox of tolerance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance)** > > The paradox of tolerance states that if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant is eventually seized or destroyed by the intolerant. Karl Popper described it as the seemingly self-contradictory idea that in order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must retain the right to be intolerant of intolerance. > In 1945, philosopher Karl Popper attributed the paradox to Plato's defense of "benevolent despotism" and defined it in The Open Society and Its Enemies. > Less well ... ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/204 "2017-08-18T02:59:04Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > As long as white supremacy and Nazism is limited to spoken words, demonstrations, etc. consistent with rules for permits, then I regard it as political opinion. This, I think, is another fundamental difference that greatly affects this whole discussion. Thanks for the link in the following post; I’d been curious about the legal angle, and it seems like a great place to start. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/205 "2017-08-21T00:08:00Z")
There is a [petition](https://www.change.org/p/united-states-congress-no-nazi-threats-law-us-legislation-to-outlaw-nazi-symbols) on [Change.org](http://Change.org) to criminalize the display of Nazi symbols, including tattoos. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/206 "2017-08-21T00:35:22Z")
Pity the Hindus, then, for whom the swastika has a very different meaning. However, I have a cunning plan 🙂 - trademark the Nazi logos. Then trademark law can be used against those who use the swastika in a Naz style. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/207 "2017-08-21T00:41:21Z")
One thing that should \*not \*be done is [stabbing someone just because their hairstyle looks like a neo-Nazi’s.](https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/colorado-man-stabbed-neo-nazi-haircut-163146326.html) ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/208 "2017-08-21T22:24:26Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > Others might suggest that, due to their nature, Nazism and white supremacy are not just “bad ideas,” but rather ideas that fundamentally espouse violence toward others. They would point to the incident in Charlottesville as the “natural consequence” of these ideologies. Fundamentally incorrect. Im pretty sure that just about every flavor of WS/Nazi in the US would be very content to see everyone they dislike voluntarily leave the country without a single incident of violence. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/209 "2017-08-21T22:29:55Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > … However, I have a cunning plan 🙂 - trademark the Nazi logos. Then trademark law can be used against those who use the swastika in a Naz style. I think you’re too late: > **[After Supreme Court Decision, People Race To Trademark Racially Offensive Words](https://www.npr.org/2017/07/21/538608404/after-supreme-court-decision-people-race-to-trademark-racially-offensive-words)** > > Racially offensive trademark applications are piling up at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Supreme Court decided the federal government couldn't ban trademarks simply for being disparaging. > **[Trademark for n-word, swastika filed after legal ruling](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2017/08/02/trademark-for-n-word-swastika-filed-after-legal-ruling-2/)** > > Inspired by a recent Supreme Court ruling, two entrepreneurs offended by the n-word filed to trademark the epithet to keep it out of the hands of racists. The court ruled in June that disparaging w… > **[People are filing trademark applications to “own” the swastika and the n-word](https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/7/31/16068972/trademarking-n-word-swastika-slants-supreme-court)** > > The Slants’s Supreme Court ruling is opening a Pandora’s box on trademarking derogatory language. ETA: [looks like someone had your exact plan, but it sounds like it’s a no-go](https://www.thejc.com/news/world/us-man-tries-to-trademark-the-swastika-1.441854): > [@](#): > > However, it is unclear whether Mr Maynard would have the ability to prove that there is any sort of connection between the swastika and Snowflake enterprises which would prove strong enough to justify him being granted the trademark. Such a well-known – and infamous – symbol will likely be considered much too broadly used to be applicable for trademark status. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/210 "2017-08-21T22:56:21Z")
I wouldn’t bother banning the ideology, but I would make it a requirement for first-grade science classes to mention melanin and its function, at least in general terms. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/211 "2017-08-21T23:48:56Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Fundamentally incorrect. > > Im pretty sure that just about every flavor of WS/Nazi in the US would be very content to see everyone they dislike voluntarily leave the country without a single incident of violence. They wouldn’t mind, no. But I honestly wonder which they’d PREFER. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie\_Loves\_Trotsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d78d45/32.png) [@Joanie\_Loves\_Trotsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie_Loves_Trotsky)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578/212 "2017-08-23T17:07:33Z")
No ideology should be banned. Direct calls for violence or violent rhetoric are one thing, but as has been said ad nauseum, it is a slippery slope, and when you can ban one ideology, any ideology can be fair game for being banned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-ban-the-ideology-of-nazism-white-supremacy/793578.md?page=10)