Corey Brettschneider on Free Speech
The Good Fight/Persuasion | Yascha Mounk and Corey Brettschneider
An excellent discussion on free speech with Yacha Mounk and Brown University professor Corey Brettschneider. They discuss the role of the government in speech, the necessity of free speech in a democracy, and the vital need for courage, especially among those in academia privileged to have a podium.
Mounk and Brettschneider “discuss why many Americans feel unable to speak their minds on key issues; the differences between a legal protection of free speech and a culture of free expression; and how we can build a culture that facilitates, rather than stifles, conversation on the issues which matter most.”
Brettschneider on democracy: “Free speech is a fundamental right in a democracy—at least as important as voting rights, as essential as they are… free speech matters—not just for personal expression, because you have to not only be able to make, but also be able to hear, arguments from all viewpoints in a democracy.”
Brettschneider on the state: “There has to be a way to defend democratic values at the same time as protecting dissenting viewpoints. Once we've established the rule that the government can't punish speech based on the viewpoint it contains, the government has to take a stand in defense of liberal democracy… Government really does not undermine autonomy by taking a position…as long as it's not engaged in coercive threats.”
Brettschneider on Mill: “Mill’s thesis was that over time, deliberation and free speech will result in the truth, because the good ideas will win out and the bad ones won't. Even ideas that might be correct, in Mill’s sense, have to be challenged and refined. That's a hard culture to design.”
Brettschneider on responsibility: “If you're in a position of privilege…you have an obligation to say what you believe as a member of a powerful institution. We don't hear enough on the left, or from liberal Democrats, about our obligation to create atmospheres of deliberation, but also to take the risk and to speak out….that's a desperate need in liberal democracy: to create a culture of dialogue among people who disagree…if we don't have that space, the peril is to the left—that it doesn't give us a realm of ideas in which to engage, convince, and persuade. The stakes are very high, so I would say…have courage here.”
