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> So it's not that we welcome speech we disagree with, (e.g. see the reception of Abolition or Women's Suffrage), it's that we mustn't use the force of law to s

> So it's not that we welcome speech we disagree with, (e.g. see the reception of Abolition or Women's Suffrage), it's that we mustn't use the force of law to silence those we disagree with. We mustn't use the force of law to silence those we disagree with? Is that all? If we didn't in our heart of hearts welcome speech we disagreed with, I think we at least acted as though we did. In my view the idea that freedom of speech just means that we can't or won't prosecute you for what you say is a sad declension from how Americans at their best thought about free speech. I won't prosecute you, but I will rile up my friends online and get you fired for what you said? That is the very attitude that I think violates the historic ethos of free speech in America.

carapace 5y ago
> We mustn't use the force of law to silence those we disagree with? Is that all? Isn't that enough? (Not to get ahead of myself, but no, I don't think it is anymore.) > If we didn't in our heart of hearts welcome speech we disagreed with, I think we at least acted as though we did. It was Voltaire who said, "I wholly disapprove of what you say — and will defend to the death your right to say it." (Actually it was Evelyn Beatrice Hall writing as S. G. Tallentyre who put those words in Mssr. François-Marie Arouet's mouth. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/01/defend-say/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/01/defend-say/ What a world!) But I feel it's not really how most people have behaved in practice over the years (or else why would that right need to be enshrined in the Constitution, eh?) > ...I will rile up my friends online and get you fired for what you said? As I alluded to above, it seems to me that the rise of online speech and social media puts us into a strange new world. I find twitter hate mobs and the ilk frankly terrifying. It used to be pretty difficult to get "forbidden" knowledge or opinions in front of a massive crowd. Mass media has pretty much been effectively moderated and even censored from early times. (Movies, Radio, and TV all had their gatekeepers.) Nowadays if you do something stupid or reprehensible (e.g. Lisa Alexander or Amy Cooper) it can rebound on you magnified a million times in a matter of hours. Is that a violation of the ethos of free speech?
- pmdulaney 5y ago
  So it sounds like you are in favor of free speech! Good for you.

carapace 5y ago

> We mustn't use the force of law to silence those we disagree with? Is that all? Isn't that enough? (Not to get ahead of myself, but no, I don't think it is anymore.) > If we didn't in our heart of hearts welcome speech we disagreed with, I think we at least acted as though we did. It was Voltaire who said, "I wholly disapprove of what you say — and will defend to the death your right to say it." (Actually it was Evelyn Beatrice Hall writing as S. G. Tallentyre who put those words in Mssr. François-Marie Arouet's mouth. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/01/defend-say/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/01/defend-say/ What a world!) But I feel it's not really how most people have behaved in practice over the years (or else why would that right need to be enshrined in the Constitution, eh?) > ...I will rile up my friends online and get you fired for what you said? As I alluded to above, it seems to me that the rise of online speech and social media puts us into a strange new world. I find twitter hate mobs and the ilk frankly terrifying. It used to be pretty difficult to get "forbidden" knowledge or opinions in front of a massive crowd. Mass media has pretty much been effectively moderated and even censored from early times. (Movies, Radio, and TV all had their gatekeepers.) Nowadays if you do something stupid or reprehensible (e.g. Lisa Alexander or Amy Cooper) it can rebound on you magnified a million times in a matter of hours. Is that a violation of the ethos of free speech?

pmdulaney 5y ago
So it sounds like you are in favor of free speech! Good for you.