Friday, December 20, 2013

Enemies of freedom

Ace of Spades:

It is well-conceded that an employer has the right to fire you for some heterodox belief or some oddball sexual habit, but an employer similarly has the right to foster an environment of self-expression and freedom, and yet no one seems to talk about a company's capacity to be a Good Actor in the realm of free expression.

There should be pushback against this idea that of course the people with direct authority over us -- our employers -- can and should fire us or otherwise inflict serious economic consequences of it for daring to live as Free Americans.

This is obvious, but apparently it's not obvious enough: We do not need a freedom to express popular or polite thought. Thoughts which are popular and polite (and approved by the state and its supporting institutions) have never been in jeopardy.

Not even in Nazi Germany. The popular, state-approved thought -- that Hitler would bring "Greater Germany" (i.e., Nazi-dominated Europe) back to greatness -- was never forbidden by the Nazis.

Unpopular thoughts were threatened-- such as anti-Naziism.

So what does Ace think about those who rejoiced in the suspension of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson?

They are enemies of freedom -- of freedom of conscience, of freedom of thought, of freedom of expression; of freedom, generally -- and should be hectored, harassed, and humiliated as such.

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