None of us are surprised that the Left abhors free speech. They've been pretty open about their disdain for a while now. In fact, Twitchy reported back in September that Democrats, at a whopping 75%, say government has a duty to censor 'hateful' social media posts. In that same poll, 1/3 of Democrats said Americans have 'too much' freedom.
Scary, scary stuff.
But this didn't happen in a bubble, and it didn't happen by accident. It's been planned, for a long time, and it starts in the schools and colleges.
Nate Silver has a piece in which he highlights how much trouble free speech is in on college campuses. And it's in big trouble:
I'm sure this won't make anyone mad.https://t.co/N7zLAAQSi2
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 2, 2023
Silver writes (emphasis original):
“What Harvard students think” is a topic that invariably receives too much attention. But I don’t think that’s true for evaluating opinion among young people or college students in general — who, after all, will make up the next generation of journalists, business leaders, politicians and pretty much every other white-collar profession. And after seeing the latest polling on what college students think about free speech, I don’t concern over “cancel culture” or the erosion of free speech norms is just some moral panic. In fact, I think people are neglecting how quick and broad the shifts have been, especially on the left.
College Pulse and FIRE — the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a pro-free speech advocacy group — recently published the latest edition of their annual survey. Although I don’t love using data from political groups — even ones I generally agree with — the good in this survey outweighs the bad. The methodology is detailed and transparent. And in surveying more than 55,000 undergraduates, the poll provides a look at student opinion across all sorts of colleges and universities — not just from the loudest or most privileged students at elite institutions.
Although I’ve seen a lot of media coverage about the FIRE survey, I’d never really dug into the details. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting to see. But given my own political philosophy, I can tell you what I was hoping for: robust student support for free speech — perhaps in contrast to the often lukewarm support it receives among university administrators. Unfortunately, that’s not what the survey found. Here’s what it says instead:
College students aren’t very enthusiastic about free speech. In particular, that’s true for liberal or left-wing students, who are at best inconsistent in their support of free speech and have very little tolerance for controversial speech they disagree with.
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And he has the data (we love data) to back it up:
The overall level of support for free speech among liberal/left college students is pretty damned low. It's not just university administrators. It's not just outlying incidents at elite universities. It's much more broad-based than I expected to find. pic.twitter.com/pnIusR6pqn
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 2, 2023
Yikes.
And you can do a deep dive on the data here, too:
Thanks, Nate! For anyone interested in checking out the data, feel free to dive in: https://t.co/DMn0BI3UTr
— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) November 2, 2023
Excellent work by FIRE.
There have also been *big*, *recent* shifts against free speech from Democrats overall, partly due to an obsession with misinformation. Anyway, lots more about this in the newsletter: https://t.co/N7zLAAQSi2 pic.twitter.com/vDA4yjoOhB
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 2, 2023
Because today's college students are tomorrow's Democrats, of course this sort of anti-free speech mentality is going to bleed into the public sphere. Actually, more like hemorrhage.
Silver, linking to this piece by John Tierney, also points out the sudden, newfound support for free speech on college campuses when they like the speech, however:
After Harvard student groups blamed Israel for Hamas’s atrocities, the global backlash was so fierce that the university’s president, Claudine Gay, released a video statement that in some ways proved even more puzzling. “Our university rejects the harassment or intimidation of individuals based on their beliefs,” she said. “And our university embraces a commitment to free expression. That commitment extends even to views that many of us find objectionable, even outrageous.”
Really?
This was news to the scholars with unpopular views at Harvard who have been sanctioned by administrators, boycotted by students, and slandered by the Crimson student newspaper. And it was certainly news to anyone who follows the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s annual analyses of threats to free speech on campus.
In this year’s FIRE report, Harvard’s speech climate didn’t merely rank dead last among those of the 248 participating colleges. It was also the first school that FIRE has given an “Abysmal” rating for its speech climate, scoring it zero on the 100-point scale (even that was a generous upgrade, as its actual composite score was -10). That dismal distinction made headlines last month across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia—but not on the Harvard campus. The Crimson didn’t even publish an article in its news section, much less an editorial; Gay didn’t make a statement, either.
So it's really 'free speech for me, but not for thee.'
There is also a difference between the Top 20 universities, those not in the Top 20, and faculty. A dramatic one:
Also, students at elite universities also reject key norms of political tolerance. E.g. they're less likely than faculty & students at low-ranked unis to say that shout-downs, blockades & violence are "never acceptable" in response to offensive speech. pic.twitter.com/hBeitx7oCy
— The Missing Data Depot (@data_depot) November 2, 2023
The 'tolerance and diversity' crowd are hypocrites.
The Left fought for unfettered speech until they realized they could be in charge.
— Small Truck Appreciator (@spongeworthy2) November 2, 2023
Of course, by design.
I feel like this sentence: "The conservatives are...consistent, with...60 percent support for both liberal and conservative speakers. The liberal students have a relatively high tolerance for liberal speakers, but little tolerance for conservative ones." should've been the focus.
— Ezzie Goldish (@EGoldish) November 3, 2023
There's certainly a difference between the Left and conservatives, although 60% is still low if you say you believe in free speech. If your thought process is 'I believe in free speech, but...' you don't.
Left students (the majority) are highly intolerant of conservative speakers while conservatives are tolerant of left speakers. See consistent Hillsdale vs hypocritical Ivy League students: https://t.co/AMY4vd7Gmn pic.twitter.com/yULkzZb4gd
— Eric Kaufmann (@epkaufm) November 3, 2023
Remember when the Left said the right was intolerant to different ideas? Good times. And projection.
Supermajorities of left-wing US college students would oppose a controversial speaker they disagree with from being allowed to speak on campus.
— Eric Crampton (@EricCrampton) November 2, 2023
Support for free speech now almost exclusively conservative.
My gawd. https://t.co/MVEkprBJPF pic.twitter.com/T8naD2Ot2j
Welcome to the party, pal.
It's unfortunate that many people view free speech as a right wing idea; it's a basic requirement of democracy
— Itai Sher (@itaisher) November 2, 2023
I think that the recent exquisite sensitivity to language and exaggerated fear of offense as well as the obsession with controlling misinformation are highly misguided https://t.co/8cLjBDVCGp
Except, these days, it is a right wing idea. The Left doesn't like free speech (or democracy, but that's a topic for a different post) for those who they disagree with -- they've made this explicitly clear. The data also shows the right is more supportive of free speech, thus making it a 'right-wing' idea.
The students of today - the authoritarian leaders of tomorrow https://t.co/fbCvG1nVNE
— Spiridon Mekas (@lukshotel) November 3, 2023
And that's been the plan all along.
Imagine if the Democratic Party suddenly flipped to being anti-abortion.
— Matt (@MattMattMcMatt) November 2, 2023
That’s what this change feels like. Liberal speech and expression norms were a big deal, now it’s like eh, who cares. https://t.co/hXpPzpcNlt
Perhaps it's conservatives who are now more classically liberal with regards to speech and expression and the Left are the fascist ones.
This is a good article. And it should put to bed the idea that free speech is under threat only at certain, elite universities. https://t.co/PSC5xJap4z
— Akash Shetye Tweets Ls (@Akashandhisls) November 3, 2023
It's not. It's under threat everywhere.
Being against free speech is a regressive political position. Censorship is imposed by those in power to enforce ways of thinking.
— Andrew Fenton (@andrewfenton) November 2, 2023
You can't have genuine progress unless people can challenge conventional beliefs. https://t.co/Pi6F9zxfn8
The Left doesn't want progress; they're perfectly fine with being regressive because they believe it will keep them in power. Because controlling speech and language is incredibly powerful. Look at how easy it is to get someone fired for saying the wrong thing. That's power.
The problem is, the Left -- as they're learning with the exposure of pro-Hamas college students -- never thinks their rules will come back to bite them on the butt. They always assume they'll hold the reins of power.
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