Ideas don't desert you; ideas aren't treasonous to you, but people can be.
Alan DershowitzRead
Students throughout the totalitarian world risk life and limb for freedom of expression, many American college students are demanding that big brother restrict their freedom of speech on campus. This demand for enhanced censorship is not emanating only from the usual corner - the know-nothing fundamentalist right - it is coming from the radical, and increasingly not-so-radical left as well.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the contrast between students fighting for free speech in oppressive regimes and those in America calling for censorship on campuses.
Alan Dershowitz points out the irony that while students in totalitarian regimes risk their lives for the right to express their thoughts freely, many American college students are advocating for censorship and restrictions on free speech. This concern extends beyond the traditional political spectrum, as it includes voices from both the radical right and left, suggesting a troubling trend in the values of free expression among the youth in the United States.
Themes
FreedomExpressionCensorshipStudentsSpeech
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of free expression in education.
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Scientists search for truth. Philosophers search for morality. A criminal trial searches for only one result: proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
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