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The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage
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Original price was: $30.99.$22.33Current price is: $22.33.
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A timely, revelatory look at freedom of speech—our most basic right and the one that protects all the others.
Free speech is a human right, and the free expression of thought is at the very essence of being human. The United States was founded on this premise, and the First Amendment remains the single greatest constitutional commitment to the right of free expression in history. Yet there is a systemic effort to bar opposing viewpoints on subjects ranging from racial discrimination to police abuse, from climate change to gender equity. These measures are reinforced by the public’s anger and rage; flash mobs appear today with the slightest provocation. We all lash out against anyone or anything that stands against our preferred certainty.
The Indispensable Right places the current attacks on free speech in their proper historical, legal, and political context. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were not only written for times like these, but in a time like this. This country was born in an age of rage and for 250 years we have periodically lost sight of the value of free expression. The history of the struggle for free speech is the story of extraordinary people—nonconformists who refuse to yield to abusive authority—and here is a mosaic of vivid characters and controversies.
Jonathan Turley takes you through the figures and failures that have shaped us and then shows the unique dangers of our current moment. The alliance of academic, media, and corporate interests with the government’s traditional wish to control speech has put us on an almost irresistible path toward censorship. The Indispensable Right reminds us that we remain a nation grappling with the implications of free expression and with the limits of our tolerance for the speech of others. For rather than a political crisis, this is a crisis of faith.
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The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage
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Original price was: $30.99.$22.33Current price is: $22.33.
L. Swanson –
Professor Turley provides an excellent history of free speech in this interesting and very readable book. He puts our current “age of rage” in historical context. Well worth reading!
GoVols –
A thorough review of the most significant of rights inherent to the human experience: freedom to say, write, express what we think and believe to be truth. Appropriate for lay persons such as myself, that enjoy the history of our topsy-turvey planet and the legal calisthenics involved in moderating views. Not a political or election year tome, but a referenced, indexed, book deserving a place on the bookshelf for future insight. Well researched, Professor Turley..
Allen –
I’m about halfway through, and I appreciate Professor Turley’s writing (enjoyable) and research into the history of free speech. From Old English origins to Adams, Jefferson and Lincoln so far. I’m excited to read more history and I’m changing my views about this indispensable Right. Thank you Professor Turley.
Dr. Terrence McGarty –
The Indispensible Right by Turley is an exceptionally well written and structured presentation of the position of the First Amendment right to free speech since the founding of the country. Although the Amendment states that free speech shall not be abridged, over the nearly 250 years of this country group after group, Administration after Administration have found ways and means to go around the right of free speech. The use of the less well defined assertion of sedition has been used to attack those not in power by those in power.
My view of many of these issues is somewhat nuanced and reflects personal contact with those whose free speech was encumbered by Presidents. As Turley opens with Ms Whitney, an alleged communist in the early part of the twentieth century, it was my grandmother, Hattie Kruger, who was arrested by Wilson and thrown in the Occoquan prison with six other women for protesting outside the White House with suffragists. Imprisoned for sign holding outside the White House, by direct order of Wilson, the seven women were dragged to the prison, hosed down in frigid November weather, force fed by hose, and allowed no counsel. Occoquan was the Guantanamo of Wilson’s time. Women were the Al Qaeda of his period as well. But the crime of the women was just their right to free speech.
Turley takes the reader from one act of free speech suppression to another over 250 years. From Adams, to Jefferson, to Jackson, Lincoln, yet somehow missing Wilson. On p 153 Turley seems to glorify Wilson as a defender of rage rhetoric. In my opinion and in my experience such could not be farther from the truth. Wilson made propaganda a key element of his Administration (see Bernays, Propaganda. Bernays was one of Wilson’s chief propagandists and his work made it to Madison Avenue for decades), he made it the driver for the entry into WW I. Wilson was a manipulative southerner and Turley’s reference to Wilson’s work on Constitutional Government was far from the interpretation of many. Wilson saw a Parliamentary system as a better one and he rejected many elements of the Constitution.
Overall the book is easy to read for those not fully engaged in the topic for a period of time. It is an excellent overview of how free speech has been curtailed historically.
The book begins with an attempt to address the question of what is a “right” and what is the basis for these rights. In this context there is the concept of natural rights, those rights that are assumed to have some universality. The origin of this rights is debatable, as from God, or as a fundamental part of the human psyche. The author examines many of these dimensions. Locke has been the alleged basis for property rights for example. Namely property rights result from the act of human work on unencumbered land for example. Then there is the concept that rights are a result of the human brains function. In my view it is a limbic system functionality. The classic example is a two year old and their toy. Try taking it away and the child screams “mine!”. Parents then attempt to mollify this limbic response to a right to property by saying the child should “share” and this does not always work. Natural Rights lead to Natural Law. In Ockham’s case he sees a distinction between God given Natural Rights and the rights mandated by law. Thus one can question that Freedom of Speech is either a Natural Right, a legal right, or both.
The book proceeds through various examples of Freedom of Speech and the suppression of it by Government. In this context we use one assumes the legal right of Free Speech. The most compelling violation of Free Speech in my opinion is the Bebs case. The author focuses on weaknesses of the Court and especially Holmes in deciding this case. However Deb, a Socialist, was arguing against the War, WW I. The Congress had passed an Act prohibiting any speech against the War, a clear violation of the First Amendment. The Court in the Debs case blatantly followed the Congress and denied the Constitution. Silencing a political adversary via the law and the Court had become a common practice. Debs was subsequently pardoned. This is in contrast to the Goldman case, a foreign born national and communist, not a socialist. Goldman gets set back from whence she came because the communists fundamentally argued for an overthrow of the Government, not a Free Speech issue. The Debs decision really needs more depth. It is in my opinion a key landmark in a poor Court. The details behind Debs, its context, the Socialists etc need to be placed in context. For example, the counterpoint of Ema Goldman and the communists set an alter example. Goldman was not a natural born citizen, thus there was a place to return her to. Also the communists desired to truly overthrow the Government and replace it with communism. Socialists in extreme wanted public utilities so that water and sewers worked.
Finally the author deals with the current Trump issues. Here things, in my opinion, get a bit muddy, mainly due to the timeliness of the case. Did Trump incite to riot, or was it just free speech? Will the Court be Holmesian or extend the First Amendment accordingly? Is there a clear line between Free Speech and the limits thereto?
Punkmom –
The story of the government’s attacks on the freedom of speech from the beginning of our great country, through perilous times, and today. This grand mix of history and current culture tells our story in detail and precision complete with photographs, footnotes, and an extensive index. Thank you, Professor Turley, for a great lesson about the indispensable right of free speech.
Dave –
This is an important book for many reasons but most meaningful to me is the paragraph on page 288 which summarizes the tragic story of the late UNCW professor Dr. Mike Adams – my brother. Mike was outgoing, extroverted, and sociable. He loved being around people and interacting with people. He started his day with coffee at Starbucks and ended the day puffing with his pals in the cigar shop. Consequently, the covid shutdown isolation was very hard on him. He felt it was excessive and so he spoke out against it, and that pushed the left over the edge, so they canceled him. The combination of the solitude of the shutdown and the loss of his classroom killed him. He was intelligent, well-read, caring, meticulous, loyal, articulate, spiritual, and passionate about free speech for everyone, not just for conservatives. Maybe you think I’m just saying that because he was my brother, but let me tell you – his students loved him too, and I was deluged with their condolences after he left us. To learn more, please read my book “Life And How To Live It: Remembering Mike Adams” (available here on Amazon.) Mike’s death was tragic and unnecessary, and we lost a brave and vocal free-speech advocate.
Amazon Customer –
Free speech is under attack by the left,
and the author makes a convincing defense. It’s a tough read, but well worth the effort.
Robert Devies –
This book is not a partisan work. Pro. Turkey presents freedom of speech issues from a legal/historical perspective. At the end I did not feel persuaded nearly as much as I felt informed.