Are We Free to Discuss America’s Real Problems?

Are We Free to Discuss America’s Real Problems? By Amy Wax, University of Pennsylvania Law School

https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/are-we-free-to-discuss-americas-real-problems/?appeal_code=MK118EM3&utm_campaign=imprimis&utm_source=housefile&utm_medium=email&utm_content=jan_2018_free_to_discuss&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--xz3fNEfmsSranf2AgM7OOq3-nPZpwl0J82ON8k9ec230cAs0AQ1NsA4IbVxSA5xm0RgP0vYk_jqTvMQUu0wCcqaV4iA&_hsmi=60279895

Excerpt: There is a lot of abstract talk these days on American college campuses about free speech and the values of free inquiry, with plenty of lip service being paid to expansive notions of free expression and the marketplace of ideas. What I’ve learned through my recent experience of writing a controversial op-ed is that most of this talk is not worth much. It is only when people are confronted with speech they don’t like that we see whether these abstractions are real to them. The op-ed, which I co-authored with Larry Alexander of the University of San Diego Law School, appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 9 under the title, “Paying the Price for the Breakdown of the Country’s Bourgeois Culture.” It began by listing some of the ills afflicting American society: "Too few Americans are qualified for the jobs available. Male working-age labor-force participation is at Depression-era lows. Opioid abuse is widespread. Homicidal violence plagues inner cities. Almost half of all children are born out of wedlock, and even more are raised by single mothers. Many college students lack basic skills, and high school students rank below those from two dozen other countries."