I’ve always tried to acknowledge my own luck in living, as I have, through a period of time where peace existed in my part of the world, when my part of the world was relatively wealthy, and where there was a fair amount of equality and social justice. To a large extent this is still the case.
At some point I probably believed that, give or take the odd setback, the only way was up. I’m not so confident of that anymore for a whole host of reasons. One of the main ones being the changes that are occurring in regard in the realm of free speech - our recognition that everybody has the right to express their opinion, including provably wrong ones, or prejudiced ones, as long as that right isn’t used to incite attacks upon other people.
Free speech is the first thing to come under attack in a society heading in a bad direction, and if that goes, then there is an undoubted danger that other positive aspects of living in the kind of place that is good to live, will come under threat.
And the most important kind of free speech is probably the kind we disagree with.
I’ve been very slow to notice change, for all sorts of reasons, but the first time I became properly aware of how much this basic sign of a healthy society was coming under attack, occurred when I listen to a podcast, not so long ago, about the demonisation of a previous heroine of the liberal left, Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling.
A few years ago she got involved in the widely publicised transgender argument, by speaking up in defence of others who themselves had been attacked or had had their jobs taken away. In this instance for expressing concern about the safety of women, if some human beings, born as men, could change their gender after the fact, and then be allowed to use facilities previously designated for women only.
Right or wrong, this is a completely reasonable concern. And yet Rowling became subject to enormous amounts of online abuse as well as genuine physical threats to her life, for voicing her opinion. Some of these mainly online attacks probably come under the designation of “free speech” themselves - she herself acknowledged this - but never the less were extremely excessive, and perhaps a sign that a freedom to “speak your mind” was not quite the given that it had been. The strange thing was that much of this abuse came from people who were fans of her books.
In my own world, during the Scottish Independence debates, I was aware that some people who opposed the idea said they were a little bit frightened of speaking their own minds, because of the vehemence of abuse they could get from some of factions of my own side of the argument. (Ironically, J.K. Rowling was one of those people).
At the time I went along with the idea that, though it was wrong that this should happen, the other side were worse. But that really isn’t the point, even if true. The fact that there is an atmosphere of fear, and I feel it too these days, about simply talking through certain subjects, is a sign of a sea change in the whole area of free speech.
And I’ve mentioned even more pertinent examples recently, when my wife lost her job because of opinions that she was expressing.
Something that we used to take for granted is under threat. It’s affecting all of us. And I haven’t got any great insights or answers. I think there are very complicated causes which I don’t personally understand.
But it is fair to say that I am more than A Little Bit Concerned. I don’t believe that real justice, or any kind of healthy societies and communities, can exist without true freedom of speech. I want to be able to speak my mind. I want to live in a world where everybody can. And I truly hope that other people can have that freedom around me, without fear or trepidation, or any sense of reluctance.