United Liberty
Why Free Speech Matters
Tue, 12/16/2008 - 12:55pm | posted by Austin Wilkes
I am amazed at how easily Americans, both conservative and liberal, ignore the infringement upon the liberties of “other groups”, while giving little to no thought in the ultimate ramifications of doing so. The late German pastor Martin Niemöller said it better than anyone in “First they came…”-
“In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then … they came for me … And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”
We can only hope that Americans will not have to go through the level of tribulation that many Germans did in order to realize this basic concept.
The format of American political discourse has become so over-the-top and Us vs. Them that one would not be surprised to hear Michael Savage or Keith Olbermann call for their opponents to be put in concentration camps. There’s so many reasons for this and the structural and economic reasons make it understandable. The individuals who know better and still perpetuate it are the sad part.
“Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson
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