Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar has rushed to ride the political wave after the recent Dublin riot to announce that he would fight hatred by taking about rights. He declared his intent to “modernize laws against hatred” by criminalizing speech that his government decides is “incitement.” He insisted that the existing legislation is “not up to date for the social media age” and needs to have a broad reach of criminalized speech. He wants to crackdown not just on violence but on those who say things that might “stir up” others.

What was particularly chilling was a speech by the Irish Green Party Sen. Pauline O’Reilly who admitted that “We are restricting freedom, but we’re doing it for the common good.”

That is all it takes to get citizens to surrender core rights, a declaration that few rights is better for the common good. It has become a Siren Call on the left not just abroad but in the United States.

[Adam Baldwin and I discuss this process in tomorrow’s Amiable episode. “The current thing is never the thing,” James Lindsay said recently in a podcast. The real ‘thing’ is always the revolution and the seizure of power. That’s what is playing out in Ireland — and here. — Ed]