A hard-hitting expose that shines a light on the powerful
conservative forces that have waged a multi-decade battle to hijack
the meaning of free speech -- and how we can reclaim it.
There's a critical debate taking place over one of our most treasured
rights: free speech. We argue about whether it's at risk, whether
college students fear it, whether neo-Nazis deserve it, and whether
the government is adequately upholding it.
But as P. E.
Moskowitz provocatively shows in The Case Against Free Speech,
the term has been defined and redefined to suit those in power, and
in recent years, it has been captured by the right to push their
agenda. What's more, our investment in the First Amendment obscures
an uncomfortable truth: free speech is impossible in an unequal
society where a few corporations and the ultra-wealthy bankroll
political movements, millions of voters are disenfranchised, and our
government routinely silences critics of racism and capitalism.
Weaving together
history and reporting from Charlottesville, Skokie, Standing Rock,
and the college campuses where student protests made national
headlines, Moskowitz argues that these flashpoints reveal more about
the state of our democracy than they do about who is allowed to say
what.
Our current
definition of free speech replicates power while dissuading dissent,
but a new ideal is emerging. In this forcefully argued, necessary
corrective, Moskowitz makes the case for speech as a tool-for
exposing the truth, demanding equality, and fighting for all our
civil liberties.