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The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage
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.
428 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 18, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 4, 2024
I first heard about this book when the author was interviewed by Megyn Kelly. A day or so later, Glenn Beck spoke to him about the book. I was so captivated by the Kelly interview that I went ahead and purchased the book from audible. I'm thrilled I did. If you're going to pick a day and a book to read on that day, this Independence Day is the perfect day to read this book. But so well written is it that there is no such thing as a bad day to read this.
The early chapters look at the history of freedom of speech. One of the great redeeming values of this book for me was the author's ability to teach me history in ways I had never learned it in my life. He uplifted me by pointing out that our current time in history isn't the only time in which the nation has been bathed in rage. It felt as though he had a steady hand on the wheel, and he was guiding me skillfully and with tremendous ability exactly where I needed to go. I lack the intellect to be taught by someone of his caliber, but I at least have his book that I can look back at and reread as necessary. And while I'm not one to reread books, this is one I would reread at least every year around Independence Day.
Additional chapters in the book look at various times in the nation's history in which freedom of speech has been in peril. I knew vaguely that John Adams was rather awful when it came to freedom of speech issues, but I was under the erroneous belief that Jefferson was somehow much better. After reading this, I'm not convinced Jefferson was so much better as he was just different. The author moves you through the nation's history from the days of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson down to the January 6th riot in 2021. I applaud Turley for not joining in the insurrection hysteria that accompanies January 6th. Yes, he rightfully decries those who destroyed and damaged and who protested beyond what ought to have been legal limits. But he also very carefully recognizes the day as a riot more than an insurrection. The vast majority of those individuals who visited the place that day seemed less interested in creating a national overthrow and more interested in questioning the outcome of an election. I wonder if the script had flipped whether they on the left would have been as equally interested in burning and destroying, and I can't help but think they probably would have been. Trump fans aren't the only ones who have screamed about stolen elections in our recent history, after all. We heard the same thing from those who supported Al Gore back in 2000.
I can't stress strongly enough how highly readable this book is. Turley narrates the audio book, and he does a magnificent job with it. Unlike a Glenn Beck book which Beck narrates, Turley never stoops to the world of being a buffoon or a third-rate comic when he narrates. He sees his mission as a serious one. And that mission is to help you and me reaffirm our love for freedom of speech and take the steps he recommends to put it on a more safe and sure footing in the future. One of the biggest problems I have with commentators who write books is that they all too often simply transfer to the printed page the same stuff they scream about on podcasts or on their appearance on television. Turley does none of those things with this book. He takes the high bar of creativity into the stratosphere here, and you don't get constant rehash of old audio clips or old stories that you've been watching and listening to for years. Much of this was new to me and while I don't pretend to be a part of the American history cognoscenti, I certainly thought I had a reasonable grasp on history. The author humbles me on that score great deal, and I loved every second of it. He taught me so much, and I'm so grateful he took the time to write this book. This has to go down as a timeless classic. It's the kind of book you're going to look back on as the National Election draws nigh and the tumult and noise increases. I'm grateful to Kelly and Beck for providing the author an opportunity to talk about his book, and I'm certainly glad he put in an appearance on those programs to let me know it was out there. I benefited hugely from it.
The early chapters look at the history of freedom of speech. One of the great redeeming values of this book for me was the author's ability to teach me history in ways I had never learned it in my life. He uplifted me by pointing out that our current time in history isn't the only time in which the nation has been bathed in rage. It felt as though he had a steady hand on the wheel, and he was guiding me skillfully and with tremendous ability exactly where I needed to go. I lack the intellect to be taught by someone of his caliber, but I at least have his book that I can look back at and reread as necessary. And while I'm not one to reread books, this is one I would reread at least every year around Independence Day.
Additional chapters in the book look at various times in the nation's history in which freedom of speech has been in peril. I knew vaguely that John Adams was rather awful when it came to freedom of speech issues, but I was under the erroneous belief that Jefferson was somehow much better. After reading this, I'm not convinced Jefferson was so much better as he was just different. The author moves you through the nation's history from the days of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson down to the January 6th riot in 2021. I applaud Turley for not joining in the insurrection hysteria that accompanies January 6th. Yes, he rightfully decries those who destroyed and damaged and who protested beyond what ought to have been legal limits. But he also very carefully recognizes the day as a riot more than an insurrection. The vast majority of those individuals who visited the place that day seemed less interested in creating a national overthrow and more interested in questioning the outcome of an election. I wonder if the script had flipped whether they on the left would have been as equally interested in burning and destroying, and I can't help but think they probably would have been. Trump fans aren't the only ones who have screamed about stolen elections in our recent history, after all. We heard the same thing from those who supported Al Gore back in 2000.
I can't stress strongly enough how highly readable this book is. Turley narrates the audio book, and he does a magnificent job with it. Unlike a Glenn Beck book which Beck narrates, Turley never stoops to the world of being a buffoon or a third-rate comic when he narrates. He sees his mission as a serious one. And that mission is to help you and me reaffirm our love for freedom of speech and take the steps he recommends to put it on a more safe and sure footing in the future. One of the biggest problems I have with commentators who write books is that they all too often simply transfer to the printed page the same stuff they scream about on podcasts or on their appearance on television. Turley does none of those things with this book. He takes the high bar of creativity into the stratosphere here, and you don't get constant rehash of old audio clips or old stories that you've been watching and listening to for years. Much of this was new to me and while I don't pretend to be a part of the American history cognoscenti, I certainly thought I had a reasonable grasp on history. The author humbles me on that score great deal, and I loved every second of it. He taught me so much, and I'm so grateful he took the time to write this book. This has to go down as a timeless classic. It's the kind of book you're going to look back on as the National Election draws nigh and the tumult and noise increases. I'm grateful to Kelly and Beck for providing the author an opportunity to talk about his book, and I'm certainly glad he put in an appearance on those programs to let me know it was out there. I benefited hugely from it.
July 8, 2024
Professor Turley has written an important book about the importance of free speech and how America's self-appointed elites have consistently sought exceptions to speech that works against their agendas. Turley meticulously makes a case that America intended for free speech to distinguish itself from England, but then found exceptions to their intentions when speech became inconvenient to them. Current attempts to silence those with unpopular views make sense in the historical context Turley has provided. Highly recommended.
July 10, 2024
I am not sure I have read a better book on the subject of free speech than I have of this one. The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage is a truly important work as a time it is badly needed. Jonathan Turley asks the question: are we in unprecedented times for the threat to free speech. What follows is an in depth discussion of both a history of the subject and his look how free speech is always under attack and it is the United States history of such attacks. What I personally found so interesting is how history's great men were not always so great when to came to free speech.
Jonathan Turley show the parallels of today's attacks on free speech to other times in history and how the argument never changes, but gets cloaked in different clothing. What The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage is so brilliant at is how opposite sides of a political argument will use attack on free speech on their opponents in the name of security, safety, and societal good. This is an amazing job of how one side sees their arguments as Constitutional and the other sides arrests them for sedition.
Be warned, this is not an easy read and it is intellectually challenging making the reader think deeply. This is not your normal social science book preaching to the choir. Professor Turley takes everyone to the wood shed.
The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage is well worth the time.
Jonathan Turley show the parallels of today's attacks on free speech to other times in history and how the argument never changes, but gets cloaked in different clothing. What The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage is so brilliant at is how opposite sides of a political argument will use attack on free speech on their opponents in the name of security, safety, and societal good. This is an amazing job of how one side sees their arguments as Constitutional and the other sides arrests them for sedition.
Be warned, this is not an easy read and it is intellectually challenging making the reader think deeply. This is not your normal social science book preaching to the choir. Professor Turley takes everyone to the wood shed.
The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage is well worth the time.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews