History Main / ThoughtCrime

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* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''[='=]s 4U City enforced mandatory happiness with involuntary drugging. And mandatory efficiency with mandatory drugging. And so on. The alternative was to be thrown down a judgement chute.

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Naturally, when no one [[WhoWatchesTheWatchmen is allowed to guard the guards]], the guards abuse their power left, right and center. Add to that the fact that no person or organization on this earth is capable of getting everything right, and [[DontShootTheMessage even the best-intentioned crimethink laws end up convincing people that their purpose is to keep the masses from]] [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]].

* A certain Todd Nickerson has made some videos where he admits to being a pedophile. Despite making it clear he doesn't want to be this way and [[WouldntHurtAChild never intends to actually molest a kid]], a lot of people still hate him just for having such urges in the first place. The same reaction has occurred when other comments that could be called "positive" about pedophiles/pedophilia are made, even they're simply "That person is good for not acting on their urges" or "Therapy should be provided for them" and maybe we can find a cure. Cue many suggestions that the cure for pedophilia is [[KillEmAll death]]. Anything other than just stating condemnation, for some, seems to be unforgivable.

[[caption-width-right:324:[[DisproportionateRetribution Not good enough. Off to the evaporation vats with you!]]]]

** ''ComicBook/AndersonPsiDivision'': Played for dark laughs when Anderson is driving her Lawmaster before suddenly stopping to beat up several confused perps. She tells control to pick them up for "insulting a Judge and resisting arrest".

* ''Film/MinorityReport'': Most of the "crimes" which the Precrime Division stops seem to be this. Suspects are caught in the attempt to commit a murder at times, but many don't even get that far. In the latter case, an ordinary charge of attempted murder could be made. For most though, they're only "crime" is just ''wanting'' to commit a murder, but not actually doing so. They're all detained without trial regardless.

** Even more [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement controversially]] the same argument has been made against [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime hate crime]] legislation, since people are not just punished for committing a crime but for what they were thinking while doing it. For instance, assault is already a crime, but assaulting someone because they were ''black'' is a hate crime. So the specific motive is the difference.

* Following the Charlie Hebdo massacre (cartoonists and journalists who were killed by Islamic terrorists) in France on January 7, 2015, which caused the memetic message "Je suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie") to spread on the Internet as a way of defending free speech, journalist [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW3vil_cJ7I Nathalie Saint-Cricq]] proposed, on public television, to 'spot and treat' schoolchildren who "were not Charlie". This didn't just include those who made genuine apologies for terrorism/religious extremism, but also those who expressed doubts about the message, criticized what the cartoonists did before they were killed or didn't respect moments of silence.

* A certain Todd Nickerson has made some videos where he admits to being a pedophile. Despite making it clear he doesn't want to be this way and [[WouldntHurtAChild never intends to actually molest a kid]], a lot of people still hate him just for having such urges in the first place.

->''"He could not help feeling a twinge of panic. It was absurd, since the writing of those particular words was not more dangerous than the initial act of opening the diary, but for a moment he was tempted to tear out the spoiled pages and abandon the enterprise altogether. He did not do so, however, because he knew that it was useless. Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The Thought Police would get him just the same. He had committed -- would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper -- the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you."''

->''"Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The Thought Police would get him just the same. He had committed -- would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper -- the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you."''

** Even more [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement controversially]] the same argument has been made against [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime hate crime]] legislation, since people are not just punished for committing a crime but for what they were thinking while doing it. For instance, assault is already a crime, but assaulting someone because they were ''black'' is a hate crime. So the specific motive is the difference.

* [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad Political Correctness]] is a more "modern" version of Thought Crime Police.

* ''Film/MinorityReport'': Most of the "crimes" which the Precrime Division stops seem to fallen into this. Suspects usually are caught in the attempt to commit a murder at times, but many don't even get that far. In the latter case, an ordinary charge of attempted murder could be made. For most though, they're only "crime" is just ''wanting'' to commit a murder, but not actually doing so. They're all detained without trial regardless.

* The Khmer Rouge, among their many crimes against humanity and DisproportionateRetribution, made certain thoughts punishable by death in their campaign to reset Cambodia to "year zero." This included thinking about the past, holding any religious beliefs, showing too much individuality [[note]] like eating by yourself [[/note]], or showing any attachment to western ideals.
* Following the Charlie Hebdo massacre (cartoonists and journalists who were killed by Islamic terrorists) in France on January 7, 2015, which caused the memetic message "Je suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie") to spread on the Internet as a way of defending free speech, journalist [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW3vil_cJ7I Nathalie Saint-Cricq]] proposed, on public television, to 'spot and treat' schoolchildren who "were not Charlie". This didn't just include those who made genuine apology of terrorism/religious extremism, but also those who expressed doubts about the message, criticized what the cartoonists did before they were killed or didn't respect moments of silence.
* "Gay conversion therapy" seeks to extinguish homosexuality whether the subject has engaged in any sexual behaviour or not.

* Under the reign of Henry VIII, it became treason to even ''think'' ill of the king, or to "imagine" his death.

* Following the Charlie Hebdo massacre (cartoonists and journalists who were killed by Islamic terrorists) in France on January 7, 2015, which caused the memetic message "Je suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie") to spread on the Internet as a way of defending free speech, journalist Nathalie Saint-Cricq proposed, on public television, to 'spot and treat' schoolchildren who "were not Charlie". This didn't just include those who made genuine apology of terrorism/religious extremism, but also those who expressed doubts about the message, criticized what the cartoonists did before they were killed or didn't respect moments of silence.

* Following the Charlie Hebdo massacre (cartoonists and journalists who were killed by Islamic terrorists) in France on January 7, 2015, which caused the memetic message "Je suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie") to spread on the Internet as a way of defending free speech, journalist Nathalie Saint-Cricq proposed, on public television, to 'spot and treat' schoolchildren who "were not Charlie". This didn't just include those who made genuine apology of terrorism/religious extremism, but also those who expressed doubts about the message, criticized the cartoonists or didn't respect moments of silence.

* The idea behind "re-education camps" in Communist countries.

* Some scriptures of Literature/TheBible point out that thinking of a sin is just as bad as doing it in God's eyes. For example, a literal reading of the commandment "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife" would indicate that the proscription is not merely against the ''act'' of adultery, but the very thought or feeling of envy. Indeed, the New Testament states that a man who lusts after a woman "has already committed adultery with her in his heart."