> 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?
Frankly, I think there's more potential here for true freedom than in France (especially given its recent history). If you want to live in a country where you can be prosecuted and jailed for disagreeing with the state's concept of historical "truth," I'm sure there's a flight leaving Columbus tonight.
> 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?
That's too easy. Put some spin on your softballs, Yoshie.
> 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.
Jews in Nazi Germany had minority opinions. Did they fear and distrust the German masses? Did this make them anti-democratic elitists (or "cosmopolitians" as they were dubbed by the German state)?
> I try to pass flyers in opposition to the death penalty,
> for instance. Inevitably, some of them say, "Get a job!"
I think that's a fine suggestion -- unless you consider passing out fliers to be heavy-lifting.
DP