liberty

MSNBC – First Amendment no big deal, students say

bq. The way many high school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag burning is hardly protected free speech.

bq. Yet, when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes “too far” in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.

Wow.

bq. They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security. — Ben Franklin

or even better:

bq. I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it. — Voltaire

posted at 8:55 pm on Tuesday, February 01, 2005 in Current Events, Links | Comments (1)

1 Comment

  1. Jeff K says:
    2005-02-02 at 10:55

    I saw that in the news too and was momentarily stunned when I read it. *This posting approved by the Ministry of Truth* It puzzles me that with a similar pluralty of high school students in the U.S. having tried illicit drugs, they would want to see *more* government intervention, but logic does not factor in here. This is an example of the “Tragic Vision” (that is, right-wing politics) at work. Apparently, when looked at as a “Tragic Vision” broad nationalistic and militaristic tendencies become compatible with individual liberty.

    Then you realize that the story is couched in notoriously liberal terms by media outlets selling themselves so they picked the two best questions suited in this goal (“The Utopian vision”). End of mystery. (Well except for why young people are becoming right-wing)

    Reference: Stephen Pinker, “The Blank Slate”, Chapter on Politics — Utopian vs. Tragic Vision, 2002. (NYT National Best seller 2002).

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