Would you be willing to give up free speech for a more stable society?

Question

Would you be willing to sacrafice free speech for an overall more stable existance in soceity? Since Putin has been voted person of the year by Time magazine I thought it would be a good idea. Free speech is nice and that but limiting it could correct a lot of other problems in this world.

Answer 1

no I would not give up my freedom of speech for a more stable society because if we did that it would be like a dictatorship.  We would have no voice if we didn't like the president we couldn't say that.  I would definately not give up my freedom of speech for a stable society.

Answer 2

NO!! Giving up free speech would not provide a stable society. Only put more people in jail when they objected to something being done wrong.

Answer 3

Absolutely Not!!! Many people shed their blood for such a freedom and you should be ashamed to even have conceived a thought like that.

Answer 4

A Stable is where they keep animals in cages.

The answer is NO.

Answer 5

I don't see what one has to do with the other so...NO!

Answer 6

I'd be willing to give up PC speech.

We lost free speech a long time ago.

Answer 7

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Free speech is what eventualy creats a more stable society

Answer 8

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

Remember that Time's criterion for "Person of the Year" is not "did the most good" but "was most influential."  You can be influential in a bad way.

Furthermore, free speech is canonized in the First Amendment because the Framers feared that their new country would become like the monarchy they'd left - imprisoning and even executing any dissenters.  Open debate is a good thing, it allows all ideas to come forth and people to make informed decisions, rather than decisions formed on one-sided rhetoric.  While there are types of speech I'd love to see restricted, like hate speech, it's difficult to draw clear lines, and so I understand that to speak my mind, I have to let others speak theirs.

Also, a very good friend of mine grew up in Russia, the former Soviet Union.  Their society is no more stable than ours.  Part of that is economic, yes, but the repression of free speech did not serve to make the USSR a beacon to the world.  Russia still has many problems, and the people can't often come forth to challenge their government on what needs challenging.

It's a dangerous precedent when a government controls its people, instead of the other way around.