Source: Brownstone Institute
by Aaron Kheriaty
“Freedom of speech is an integral aspect of authentic freedom, grounded in the distinctively human capacity to adhere to truth through persuasion rather than imposition. While truth is objective and independent of the knowing subject, it can only be received by the subject freely. We can contrast this with a thinly grounded notion of freedom as merely a pragmatic expedient to ‘get along’ in a pluralistic society in which we assume that truth is more or less unattainable. In this thin form of liberalism, when it no longer appears the optimal empirical solution to maintain social comity or stability, freedom of speech will be easily abandoned. We have seen this dynamic play out in Western societies in the past decade, where elites now frequently insist that censorship is necessary to ‘protect democracy’ from the populist rabble.” (07/23/26)