The Oxygen of Liberty—Freedom of Speech – by David Jäkle (substack.com)
Society Decays Without Free Expression
In recent years, you have noticed how there are more and more calls to police speech. We need to police “hate speech” online because otherwise people’s feelings are hurt. We need to stop “conspiracy theorists” spreading “misinformation” because otherwise people could doubt the official narrative. More than seventy years ago, 1984 pictured a dystopia with complete monitoring of everybody’s words. What seemed like a hypothetical nightmare vision is becoming reality. In some parts of the globe, you can’t speak your mind freely anywhere anymore and some of our politicians try to implement this situation here as well.
The Unsung Hero of Liberty
At its core, freedom of speech is the right to articulate opinions and ideas without fear of government retaliation or censorship. This principle is enshrined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and is echoed in various forms across democratic nations worldwide. It ensures that individuals can debate, discuss, and dissent, fostering a marketplace of ideas where truth can emerge through competition of ideas, rigorous examination, and dialogue.
The right to express one’s thoughts freely, to speak one’s mind without fear of retribution, is not only a cornerstone of a free and vibrant society (just like natural law), but it is the underlying principle. If freedom of speech is gone, that means some overlords have absolute control over your mind and your thoughts—absolute control over your life. While many on the Left, the Right, and the Center see some limitations to free expression, most liberty-oriented folks have recognized that absolute freedom of speech is required for freedom of thought and defend it to the utmost degree.
A Newly Endangered Cornerstone of Liberty
The roots of freedom of speech can be traced back to ancient Athens, where open debate was encouraged in the agora, the public square. However, the concept gained significant traction during the Enlightenment, a period marked by the intellectual liberation of Europe. Philosophers like John Locke and Voltaire championed the idea that free expression is essential for personal and societal progress.
In the United States, the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791 was a watershed moment, embedding freedom of speech as a fundamental right. Since then, this right has been tested and refined through numerous landmark cases, each reinforcing the principle that speech should be protected, even when it is controversial or unpopular. The concept is deeply engrained in many Western constitutions, but the case can be made that no country defends it as rigorously as the United States.
But while this idea of protecting the right to free expression only appeared prominently in the last centuries, humans could freely express their thoughts all throughout history. There were times when you could not say everything to everyone and you had to be careful with voicing your concerns with rulers openly, but in your close circles you could always speak freely. However, with the immense technological advancements free markets recently brought about, free expression has become seriously endangered everywhere.
Driving Progress
Freedom of speech is more than a legal abstraction; it is the lifeblood of a thriving society. It empowers individuals to challenge the status quo, advocate for change, and hold those in power accountable. Without this freedom, progress stalls, and society risks falling into tyranny and stagnation. You can see this by looking back at the Soviet Union, where people had to fear expressing their thoughts to anybody, as there were lots of official and unofficial informants listening in on them. You can see this by looking at today’s China, where you lose social credits if you say anything the CCP disapproves of.
And yet, we’ve just lived through governments openly censoring speech questioning the danger, origin, and treatment of a virus. This went as far as completely destroying the lives of some that questioned the official narrative. Many of those “conspiracy theories,” such as the lab-leak theory, became true. Nonetheless, we can witness similar calls for censorship again because people must be stopped from spreading “misinformation” (what we used to call lies). The last years have shown quite clearly that, in many situations, the biggest spreader of lies is the government.
Freedom of speech nurtures innovation and creativity. When people are free to share their ideas without fear, they can collaborate, critique, and refine concepts, leading to advancements in science, technology, and the arts—low-time-preference behavior. It is the fertile ground from which innovation springs, driving economic and cultural growth. If you can’t speak freely, you can’t think. Humans organize their thoughts through communicating. If you always need to self-censor, you stop exploring topics and reasoning. Stopping free speech literally means stopping progress.
Discovering Ideas
In daily conversations, whether at the dinner table, in the classroom, or online, our ability to speak openly allows us to connect, share experiences, and learn from one another. Engage in open dialogue by fostering environments where different opinions are welcomed. Encourage discussions that challenge your perspectives and broaden your understanding. Recognize that discovering new interests and pursuing them benefits everybody. Respect diverse viewpoints by hearing and considering opposing views—by really listening to and digesting other opinions, not just waiting for your turn to talk.
Fight for freedom of speech and never advocate censoring anybody. As a biographer of Voltaire described his attitude: “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Never support burning books and erasing ideas. Only if people can investigate issues themselves, they can find out that specific opinions cannot have a place in their lives.
With your kids, promote media literacy and critical thinking. Help them understand the importance of free speech. Never explain a rule with “Because I said so!” Nourish the curiosity they are born with and encourage them to ask difficult questions. If you promote obeying authority, the day will come when they substitute the state’s authority for yours.
Saying What Others Do Not Want to Hear
Freedom of speech is what free societies are built on. It is not only a moral obligation to let individuals express themselves freely, discovering and discussing ideas without fear of retribution advances you personally and the human race as a whole. We can never infringe on freedom of speech because somebody could feel offended, as that is exactly what free speech is supposed to do: Criticize and offend your convictions. In the words of George Orwell, “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” What is your most influential encounter with censorship?
Think for yourself and question everything, my fellow liberty people!
Source: Libertarian Thinker
