During the French Revolution, the early leaders who espoused the liberal values embodied in the Declaration of the Rights of Man were, before long, denounced by the more radical forces that they had enabled. The erstwhile revolutionaries were then themselves deemed reactionaries and sent to the guillotine. As a commentator of the time noted, “the revolution devours its children.”
The permissiveness of college administrators in their tolerance for intolerance against free speech on campus has degraded free-speech protections dramatically. Rather than support the civil discourse that makes learning possible, these administrators have allowed the voices of the loudest to drown out reasoned discussion.
Comments