Why banning words or symbols or actions won’t change a thing

There is one major problem when it comes to banning the evil swastika and Nazi salute, writes Joe Hildebrand.

I am all for banning the Nazi salute.

Even the fiercest defenders of freedom of speech usually draw the line at genocidal regimes.

(Speaking of which we should also probably ban the hammer and sickle by the same logic but let’s leave that argument for another day.)

Having said that, I do see a couple of small problems.

Firstly, it will make it very difficult to put on theatrical productions of Hail, Caesar!

I’m not sure if there are any of these in the works, and I’m sure there are exemptions if you fill out the paperwork correctly, but it’s important to consider these things.

Secondly, and I’m not quite sure who needs to be told this, throwing a Nazi salute doesn’t instantly turn you into a Nazi.

The process is usually the other way round.

This is the problem with banning words or symbols or actions.

A far right wing group did the Nazi salute on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Crosling

It doesn’t stop people from thinking the things that the words or symbols or actions represent.

Instead, it just stops them expressing those things in public and that makes them harder to identify and reason with and, hopefully, stop thinking those things – which is surely the endgame here, right?

This is the problem that British home intelligence encountered when they were trying to identify and keep tabs on actual Nazi sympathisers during the actual fighting of World War II.

It was much easier when the douchebags were flashing swastikas.

There was even a case where a member of the Nazi party living in Nanking, who somehow developed a conscience, raised the flag as a symbol that women being attacked by the Japanese could seek refuge on his property and the Japanese would not violate it for fear of raising the ire of their partner in evil.

That is certainly a weird one but, the point is, context is everything.

So sure, ban the swastika and ban the salute, but it won’t change a thing unless we also win the big arguments about what gave rise to them in the first place.

And it’s that uprising that is scarier than the raising of any hand.

Originally published as Why banning words or symbols or actions won’t change a thing