Richard Stallman Defends Epstein: Victims Were ‘Entirely Willing’ | Hacker News Reader

Richard Stallman Defends Epstein: Victims Were ‘Entirely Willing’

thedailybeast.com

>A deep dive into his writings shows this isn’t the first time Stallman has expressed such questionable views, however. He has written dozens of posts on his personal website in favor of legalizing pedophilia and child pornography for more than 15 years.

Is that true? Where are those posts?

>“This ‘child pornography’ might be a photo of yourself or your lover that the two of you shared. It might be an image of a sexually mature teenager that any normal adult would find attractive. What’s heinous about having such a photo?” Stallman wrote in 2011 on his personal site, stallman.org, in an argument in favor of Congress limiting laptop searches at the U.S. border.

If that's all they got then I'm not convinced.

Well, I am in favor of legalizing the possession (but not the trade, if it is photographic) of child pornography, but only because I generally think legislation should be reduced. (I suppose, it can also be an experiment to see what is happen. That way, you can see if it is harmful or not, and in what ways.)

Of course, still a photograph should not be taken and used without your permission anyways. (But, the government does so anyways, unfortunately.)

And, I don't like the term "pedophilia". But, if it is true that they are entirely willing, then, it is willing, but how easily can you prove it? I think the problem was that sometimes it is difficult to tell. If so, can you get around that problem?

I am definitely in favor of limiting laptop searches at the border. But that is not because of pornography.

I disagree with "I think that everyone age 14 or above ought to take part in sex". Maybe some people are ready earlier, but some are not ready until much later, and I don't even know if 14 is correct (I have no experience with such things, and do not really intend to, so I cannot judge what age is correct). Furthermore, I think that many people will not want to take part in sex and therefore should not do so. (I also think you should not try to increase the human population too much.)

Also, I definitely think that people should learn to be careful. Better education could help, maybe; just by making it available. (You don't need to force your propaganda on everyone; simply, make the education available.)

I do agree that censorship is even worse than pornography, though, and I do not like pornography myself. I do not defend pornography, including child pornography. I also do not defend rapists. I just think that legislation should be reduced and that they should not prohibit so many things.

Nothing in this article justifies the title. Can someone share more information about this? It feels like they are subverting his point to get more page views.

That's not what he said at all.

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