There’s a famous quote attributed to the French philosopher, Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Did Voltaire really utter those words? Not exactly. The ‘quote’, cited by historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall in 1906, is thought to be merely a summary of a sentiment expressed by Voltaire.
I mention that detail only to set the record straight. What matters for my purposes is the statement’s meaning: a willingness to fight to the death to preserve free speech.
You don’t have to look very far to see that this basic freedom is under assault in our supposedly free society. Every day we hear instances of people being banned from social media, ostracized for stating their opinions and canceled because their perspective doesn’t match the accepted narrative. We’re not talking about shouting ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater. We’re talking about speech protected by our Constitution.
How did we get here? This is America. Freedom of speech is in our DNA. Our ancestors fought and died to protect this and other sacred freedoms. So how is it possible that it’s being chipped away, brick by brick as it were.
Voltaire nailed it back in the good old days. He was a passionate advocate of free speech as were our founders. That passion seems to be lacking in our cancel culture where valid opinions are often left unspoken for fear of eliciting a less than civil response—or worse—the loss of income and a public platform.
Where is this leading? What happens to freedom of expression in a cancel culture? The answer is becoming obvious. Debate shuts down. Minds atrophy. Civility ceases. Is that where we’re headed as a society? If it sounds Orwellian, that’s because it is.