![]() ![]() ![]() It’s interesting that just as the liberal proponent of free speech claims that the values are trans-cultural, opposition to free speech is also. The phenomenon is not merely trans-temporal, it’s trans-cultural as well: he covers Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. ![]() As he progresses from ancient to medieval to Enlightenment to today, example after example show this dynamic at work. This is one of the central themes in Mchangama’s story. So while the philosophical arguments in favor of free speech are very robust, free speech as a social value is frequently undermined. More insidiously, even people who do not have any particular power can find it threatening, or at least discomforting, to be confronted with ideas and values different from their own, and this fear can be exploited by the powerful. If free speech is so wonderful, why then is free speech always under attack? The obvious reason, which Mchangama documents thoroughly, is that it typically represents a threat to those in power. ![]()
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