> > Furthermore, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that for-profit
>> textbook publishers, privately-owned newspapers & TV stations,
>> thousands upon thousands of parochial & provincial school boards, and
> > so on in the USA must be far more committed to historical truth than
>> the French government.
>>
>> Yoshie
>
>That the fact that we live under a corporate oligopoly negates the concept
>of free speech for all?
No, my comparison is *specific*: France versus the USA today. Which has more political freedom? France, I say. Which is more committed to historical truth -- the French government or for-profit textbook publishers, privately-owned newspapers & TV stations, thousands upon thousands of parochial & provincial school boards, and so on in the USA? The French government, I believe. Do you disagree?
>I get the feeling that despite all the hot air released on behalf of "the
>people," that Yoshie and Charles actually fear the people to make up their
>own minds.
What if the majority of the people make up their own minds & decide that fascist opinions should be either banned or tightly regulated, as in the case of France? Why distrust the French masses?
The freedom of speech is central to liberalism because it protects minority opinions from majority ones. In other words, it is rooted in a fear of democracy & distrust of the masses.
>That's why I think you
>should quit school, Yoshie, so that you can actually work with the people
>you claim to understand and wish to uplift. The university is not the world.
>Get out, get your hands dirty, mix with the commoners.
That's what some Americans have already told me, without your reminder. I try to pass flyers in opposition to the death penalty, for instance. Inevitably, some of them say, "Get a job!" (Sometimes worse: "Go back to where you come from!") O, freedom-loving Americans! O, humanity!
Yoshie