i call it milton's curse. The people who fight the good fight, or fight against censorship on one topic, then suddenly turn round and say, oh, yeare free speech for me, but not so thi milton’s curse has sort have been repeated throughout our history. i think in many ways, weare probably conditioned to that kind of intolerantnow. It becomes very difficult for human beings to hold an abstract principle like free speech up on such a high pedestal when you feel that your most ar the values you feel are most attached to, are being destroyed by the other side. Youdw again remind me why am i protecting this principle? Because if
Hailed as the “first freedom,” free speech is the bedrock of democracy, and it is subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states around the world, it is on the retreat.
In this episode, based on the book Free Speech, Michael Shermer and Jacob Mchangama discuss the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of the principle, how much we have gained from it, and how much we stand to lose without it. Mchangama reveals how the free exchange of ideas underlies all intellectual achievement and has enabled the advancement of both freedom and equality worldwide. Yet the desire to restrict speech, too, is a constant.