When I was growing up, being left-wing and supporting free speech was not only common sense, the two went hand-in-hand.

After all, what is more liberal (in the American sense) than allowing oppressed groups to rise up and criticize the establishment that is holding them down? Who could forget how the words of the suffragettes, MLK, Malcom X, LGBT activists, and so many others helped change people's hearts and minds? How could these groups have succeeded without protection from a Conservative establishment that was in control?

During the Bush years this was especially true. We were shamed if we dared to criticize the government's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, or if we were gay, or if we were nonreligious. The only way these, at the time, unpopular movements managed to keep from being buried by shaming and moral outrage was because our free speech was protected. Groups like the ACLU made sure (and continue to make sure) that anti-war activists, LGBT people, and atheists have the rights to make their voices heard. After all, how can our movements ever gain traction if we are censored? And so, eventually the criticisms of the wars became more valid in the minds of many people as evidence mounted that the American people had been lied to, people began to see their gay neighbors as harmless and deserving of respect, and atheists are in the process of becoming more accepted.

I asked myself, how could progress like this be possible without making sure that freedom of expression is a right for all? The answer is simply that it couldn't.

Now, that lesson somehow seems to have been forgotten by the Left, or at least by many Liberals and Progressives in the US and Western Europe.

Of course, the Left does not always win when free speech rights are guaranteed to everyone. Look at the low approval ratings of modern feminism (about 30% according to Gallup) and the response many SJWs get for examples. But the Left is not always correct, so this debate is still healthy. No ideology has a monopoly on the truth.

I think that this recent opposition to freedom of speech among left-leaning and left-wing activists comes primarily from both a lack of understanding of the past, and short-sightedness. Basically these activists, mostly young, have only been politically aware over the past year to about six years, depending on the person. Therefore, they have not seen how freedom of speech can benefit the left. Combine that with a brilliant effort by Conservatives to embrace free speech over the past six years or so and these kids have actually bought into the idea that freedom of speech is a right-wing ideology!

(On a side note, good on ya if you are one of those individuals on the right who genuinely supports free speech. When I reference how the right embracing free speech is a recent thing, I mean that in regards to how much Conservative politicians and activists focus on it now, when only about 14 years ago they were trying to pillory anyone who criticized the Iraq war as "anti-American", against the troops, hurting moral, and wanting the terrorists to win, rather than addressing the substantive arguments about why the war was a bad idea. ie. moral outrage and being offended rather than addressing arguments and the facts).

Not only have these kids bought into the idea that free speech is an inherently Conservative idea, they believe that it helps the right-wing, and they know that it is the accepted view of their peer group to be against free speech. They are not aware enough of the past to see how freedom of speech has helped humanity and causes they care about, and yet they are also not aware enough of the future to understand that whatever limitations they put in place now will only be turned against them by their enemies.

I think in 20 or 30 years people will look back at this and realize that (mostly young) leftists are making a horrible mistake right now. I just fear that it will take a lot of suffering before they realize their mistake.

I have tried to get through to them, with some success, by pointing out that banning speech inherently helps the establishment, which they generally believe is racist, homophobic, classist, sexist, etc. It can sometimes be helpful to ask them things like "Given that Trump is currently the President, who do you think would be most likely to get censored without freedom of speech: Black Lives Matter, or anti-immigrant organizations?". Similar questions could ask "who do you think the rich people who run our government would censor: socialists, or big business owners?", "If you believe our government is racist, then don't you think they would censor BLM before they would censor the alt-right?". "The Left wasn't even strong enough to stop Trump from winning, let alone someone who might be more popular who could turn these tools of oppression against us. I don't understand how you see a world where the Left is strong enough to censor the Right, but not the other way around".

I obviously support freedom of speech for more philosophical reasons like the Marketplace of Ideas, the importance of limiting government intervention in our personal lives, etc., but if it comes down to it, pointing out to Left-wingers that limiting freed of speech cripples their causes is a valid strategy too.

I am certainly not the only one who feels this way: http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/free-speech-is-a-left-wing-value/18166#.Wu7J338h3IU

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