WHY WE WON’T BE FREE WITHOUT IT
FREE SPEECH IS UNDER ATTACK in educational institutions and in the public square. Are you afraid to use a bumper sticker or discuss controversial subjects in public with your family or friends? Have our personal opinions become so adversarial that we keep our beliefs to ourselves for fear of verbal, physical, or legal attacks?
Freedom of speech helps to provide a balance between stability and change. Freedom of speech acts as a safety valve to let off steam when people might otherwise be bent on revolution. By entering into discussions with others an individual participates in the development of knowledge and in the direction of the community. As J.S. Mills writes in On Liberty, “a party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life.” Frederick Douglas- former slave, human rights leader wrote, “Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist.”
We won’t discuss our views in the open because we are afraid. It is not our fault; we have been made that way by political parties, the media and the internet. A poll found that 40% of Americans said that the past presidential election damaged a personal relationship with a friend or family member. The US media are disaster pornographers-a kind of a political reality show like Survival Island. It is their goal to drive us into separate tribes that are afraid of each other. Tribalism has been an inherent part of human history. It is the “biological loophole” that many politicians have banked on for a long time: tapping into our fears. People, not of “our” tribe are given derogatory labels and appear to threaten or harm our way of life. The corporate titans that control the internet are actively censoring views on issues they disagree with. This fear creates groups of people we won’t or can’t communicate with and “hate” without understanding why.
The answer to this fear is for us to spend time with people who hold different views, talk with them and eat with them Learning from others on a more personal level leads to understanding. One of the most effective ways to banish fear is to repeatedly force yourself to face what you’re afraid of. No one said this would be easy but here are a few tips to make the exercise easier. 1) Start small – pick an individual that you disagree with but who you consider reasonable. 2) Agree upfront on some ground rules for your discussion. Treat this as a classroom not a courtroom. You are there to learn, not win. 3) Ask the other individual “why” questions, not with eye rolling but with an attitude that you really want to learn. 4) Be willing to answer “why” questions from the other person. 5) Focus your discussion on ideas, not attacking the person. 6) Then, if it is a successful conversation, try to encourage that person to bring someone else to meet with you and a friend. There are two non-partisan organizations that foster this type of conversation: National Institute for Civil Discourse (nicd.arizona.edu.) and Better-Angels.org.
The First Amendment to the Constitution continues to protect free speech from government interference except in a few prohibited categories. However, “hate speech” which is defined as speech that is offensive in its content is not one of the exceptions. You have no First Amendment right to not be offended. Restrictions on speech by public colleges amounts to government censorship, in violation of the Constitution. What we, as a society, need to do is have civil discussions. We need not fear government control, yet. We should, however, fear the insidious attack on free speech and expression in the public arena.
