The death of free speech...

The death of free speech...  Having lived through the university protests of the '60s and '70s, I've long tended to think of the student populations as a key source of fight against censorship and other free speech restrictions.  Before these protests, universities had strict rules about what could and could not be said on campus.  The protests ended that, much to the regret of then-traditional Americans on both the left (war mongers!) and the right (flag burners!).  More liberty-minded folks (including myself) celebrate the accomplishment.

These days, though, the universities have become hotbeds of a new movement toward the suppression of free speech.  Some have dubbed this the “unfree speech movement”, and the moniker is apt.  It's a natural outgrowth of the intersection between multiculturalism and progressivism – the invention of the right not to be offended.  It's leading us down the same crazy path that Europe went down, starting 20 years or so ago.

In today's Wall Street Journal, Sol Stern – whom I remember as a radical in the '60s – has a piece that echoes my own thoughts.  It's interesting hearing what this looks like from one of those students who helped win the fight for free speech nearly 50 years ago...