The Best Answer To Bad Speech Is More Speech!
By: Dr. Gary S. Goodman
Throughout history, societies have wrestled with a crucial choice: When we hear a speaker that the state feels is threatening, do we shut him down, squelch him instantly, and if necessary, brutally, or do we allow him to continue, and by doing so run risks of promoting instability and even, revolution?
America’s answer has been mixed. Officially, we enjoy freedom of speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution. But this is a right that is not absolute.
During wartime, political speech has been curtailed. World War I brought some seminal cases before the U.S. Supreme Court that are still used as authority to restrict what one Justice called, shouting “fire” in a crowded theater.
But, the sole voice of dissent, which by necessity must be loud, dramatic, and extreme, to garner attention, can be the only sane one to be heard when the drums of war are beating loudly and incessantly.
We don’t like to listen to contrary opinion when we’re pumped up to drop bombs, yet this is exactly what we’re fighting to preserve: our way of life, and that includes our right to be contrary, to say “no,” when the rest of society seems to be shouting, “yes!”
If we don’t like an opinion, we should be free to argue against it, to persuade the other party that he is mistaken, and we should do this persistently, tirelessly, vigorously, but peacefully.
The idea is simple, if we can keep the dialogue going long enough, we’ll finally see the other’s interests, and he, ours, and we’ll be able to find common ground.
Wouldn’t this have been a preferable course than that which we in America rushed into, in most of the conflicts since World War II?
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.