QotD: Freedom of Speech

Almost any argument about race, gender, Israel, or the war is now apt to be infected by a spirit of self-righteous grievance and demonization. Passionate disagreement isn't sufficient; bad faith must be imputed to one's opponents: skepticism of affirmative action equals racism, antiwar sentiment equals anti-Americanism (or terrorist sympathy), criticism of Israel is by definition anti-Semitic, and so on. More and more people think they're entitled to the right not just to ignore or disapprove, but to veto and banish. And the craven fear of triggering tantrums leads the responsible authorities — university administrators, politicians, corporate executives — into humiliating, flip-floppy contortions of appeasement.

[. . .]

When it comes to free speech, we need to let a hundred flowers bloom. We need to chill. We need to stop being pussies.

Kurt Andersen, "The Age of Apoplexy", New York Magazine, 2007-10-07