No Longer Possible to Be a Democrat and Support Free Speech

For freedom's sake, be offensive. Not rude. Not malicious. But free enough with your thoughts that they are still your thoughts and not the programmed left-speak that is constantly in flux but thoroughly enforced.

A generation ago, Americans would preface a potentially offensive statement with a quick declaration — "this isn't politically correct, but" — before charging forth with what was on their minds. It was a brilliant idiom that contrasted the communist control of language with an American's freedom of speech but still demonstrated the speaker's awareness that what was being said might not appeal to every listener. Today, when a boss or college admissions board or social media enforcer says something is politically incorrect, it means you've been fired or rejected for having thoughts that do not conform. What not long ago was spot-on American irony is now reality. "This isn't politically correct, but..." is now firmly answered, "Then you probably shouldn't say it." Say it anyway.

A generation before that, it was the listener, not the speaker, who insisted on candor. If an American waded into uncomfortable conversation and uttered something like, "I don't know if you're gonna want to hear what I have to say," the person most likely to be offended was often the first to respond, "Well, it's a free country, isn't it?" You can't have a free country if you can't first accept that freedom comes with hearing things you'd prefer not to hear. Freely expressed ideas, no matter how offensive, are at the root of all freedom. You don't hear "it's a free country" much anymore; speak freely anyway.

More