Best of 2021: On Free Speech
How to Defeat Cancel Culture and Save Free Speech
This is where elements of the free speech movement are basically kicking
own goals all the time. They think they should ally with everyone who
wants free speech for whatever reason, so they can get the biggest
movement going. The fact that they aren’t selective about which people
they consider allies, means that people who are dismissive of racism, or
actively homophobic, for example, are welcomed into the tent. This, in
turn, means that the free speech movement is discredited in the eyes of
those who want social change.
Drawing The Line On Free Speech?
Going forward, I think we should stick to what has worked so far, and
continue to use free speech and the free market of ideas to advance
social justice. There is no need to re-draw the time honored classical
liberal line on free speech. We never needed to do so to achieve the
positive changes we have so far, and there is clearly no case to justify
doing so going forward.
Cancel Culture is not a Myth!
The danger of half of the population not taking cancel culture
seriously, is that cancel culture will win. There is no way we can
defeat cancel culture without broad support and commitment from across
the political spectrum.