Freedom for the Thought That We Hate
by Anthony Lewis
What is fascinating, when you read Lewis’s book, is the extent to which the way people look at freedom of expression in the US is fundamentally different: this is reinforced whenever you discuss the issue with anyone in America. The idea of the constitutional right is inculcated from elementary school – an absolute guarantee of freedom of speech circumscribed only in extremis. In Britain we talk about a balance of competing forces, which is quite different.
