Free Speech - the Hill to Die On?

Freedom of speech is a foundational component of American culture and progress. Open discourse is at the heart of innovation. Generally encouraging freedom of speech is critical to innovation and growth, especially at a time when our environment is rapidly changing and we need new discussions of ideas to continue keeping pace. However, freedom of speech is a subset of freedom at large and each individual has varying degrees of freedom based on a wide variety of factors. The status quo is not equally fair to everyone. In an effort to improve the status quo, changes must often be made. When changes are made to bring fairness to one side, there is often a period of growing pains before its impact is evenly distributed.

Consider a double-pan balance scale. If the goal is to reach balance and one side is disproportionately heavy, weight may be added to the other side. The sides don’t immediately balance. There are usually several oscillations before equilibrium is reached. It’s important to wait until the weights stop oscillating before deciding whether more weight needs to be added or removed from either side.

There is a growing sentiment in certain groups that freedom of speech is being attacked, that we’re on a slippery slope towards widespread censorship, and that America will lose its stronghold on innovation and growth as a result. In some instances these voices are feeling the direct threat of their disproportionate power being taken away. They feel threatened by those who are uncomfortable with certain types of discussions and actively seek to silence them. These are sensitive reactions to sensitive reactions. Generalizations being made about actions caused by generationalizations. It's a fear response to a fear response. Strong action to right these perceived wrongs has been proposed, and considering the power wielded by those espousing these views, we risk yet another pendulum swing.

Radical change is bound to be messy, but it is often essential to expedite a greater good. In this case, we’ve experienced a few years of radical change meant to correct hundreds of years or more of inequity. It’s hard to imagine a world where oscillations on the double-pan scale could be avoided. Tremendous strides have already been made and more people generally have more freedoms than ever before. That is not to say that the work is near complete. It’s also not to say that some outcomes may have actually dipped the scales disproportionately in the other direction. In times like these, we must have patience for the weights on the scale to settle. When they do, we might actually find that we live in a world with more net freedoms, including freedom of speech. And if we don’t, then we should consider changing the weights on the scales again.

Our world is changing more rapidly than ever, and we’re going to need more radical change events. As a society, we need to learn how to execute these with the right balance of aggression and patience.

Let's focus on the real goal: Freedom, including freedom of speech, for all. To get there, we’ll need to have open, direct discourse. Let’s not add to a pile of overreactions, carefully observe how these changes play out, and keep our eyes on the mountaintop rather than dying on the hill.

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