MAY 1, 2020 – In school I got “schooled” in the First Amendment. It was essential for a free, civil, and democratic society.
Now I’m unsure.
My uncertainty, however, is not because I’ve lost faith in the foundational precept of our democracy. I’ve always understood the First Amendment as a “mixed water” faucet, from which “bad” speech must be allowed to flow just as readily as “good” speech—to ensure that the latter runs freely.
After I advanced from “book learning” to “reality learning,” I saw why the First Amendment was essential to the “good society.” Its essence wasn’t so I could say whatever I wanted and not be afraid of government, without a trial, throwing me into a dungeon—though protection from such a fate was certainly a critical, personal side benefit. No, the main reason for the First Amendment, I discovered, was to promote the good life, the whole damn business.
By “whole damn business,” I mean exactly that. In a phase of life I was in charge of a small division inside a large bank. My group survived and thrived based on how well I managed our precious resources—time, technology, financial capital, and most critical of all, intellectual capital. Much of our business was new-fangled, conducted in unfamiliar territory. We had to adapt continually and be in non-stop learning mode to identify, explore, and exploit opportunities. I was constantly recruiting the sharpest minds I could find inside or outside the sprawling institution.
But hiring wunderkind was only a start. Once I’d enticed them aboard, I had to unleash their abilities. I learned in a hurry to tell them to speak up. If they thought something wasn’t right—and more critically, if they thought I myself was being a dope or acting in a way that could jeopardize our business—they had the duty to speak up. Most important, if they had an idea, an insight, a new way of seeing things, they needed to “shout it out.”
And speak up/shout, they did. Thanks to their ideas and candor, we went on to become and remain by far the most profitable group in the whole division, avoiding land mines along the way. It was in that microcosm of the larger world where I learned the salient practical benefit of “free and open speech.”
Now, 25 years later, however, America lives a dystopian version of “free speech”; a nightmare in which the First Amendment has been kidnapped and prostituted to undermine the very democracy of which “free speech” was the sine qua non. Exploiting the springboards of social media platforms unimaginable by the Founders, foreign powers in league with our own citizens—wittingly and unwittingly—plant lies, disseminate misinformation, and smother critical thinking. The objective: divide and conquer us.
The First Amendment was to protect us from the damage of government-restrictions on free speech. It has now been commandeered by forces beyond the reach of “government.” If we don’t free “free speech,” our freedom will die. I worry that it’s already doomed.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
