Democratic Left_ list (UFT)

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Thu Oct 17 13:27:04 PDT 2002


Steven:

I think Chomsky said it best, "either you believe in Free Speech or you don't, there is no middle ground." (paraphrased)

I am for the free speech too. But I also think that freedom resides in the community not in the individual and his mind. In other words, an individual is given the right to speak and act freely by his/her community, which also implies certain obligations to that community (i.e. that his/her acts will not be harmful to other members of that community). Those obligations are meaningful only if the individual in question has stakes in that community - which could be jeopardized if he/she did not exercise his/her freedom judiciously. That is why judiocious exercise of individual freedom can be accomplished only withing a context of am established community - rather than among transients. That applies to cyver communities as well.

There is no such a thing as unconditional rights. No sane people will accept irresposnivle, disruptive behavior in the name of abstract principle.

wojtek

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