Free speech is a left-wing value.
As a matter of self-preservation, any movement arrayed against the most powerful forces in our society needs to care about the right of free expression. And as a matter of principle, it’s not possible to separate the goal of empowering the working class from the necessity of opposing those who think ordinary working-class people are too dumb to be trusted to listen to different points of view and make up their own minds.
As such, I’m always disturbed when I see some of my friends and comrades on the Left dismissing concerns about the weakening of free speech norms as merely an unserious preoccupation of elites who just don’t like being criticized.
