Title: Why 'Freedom of Speech' vs. 'Freedom from Consequences' Doesn't Make Sense - The Ben Smart Blog
Headings: Why ‘Freedom of Speech’ vs. ‘Freedom from Consequences’ Doesn’t Make Sense
Why ‘Freedom of Speech’ vs. ‘Freedom from Consequences’ Doesn’t Make Sense
Because it is literally impossible to have freedom of speech without freedom from consequences.
You Can Say What You Want, But…
Freedom From Consequences
Freedom From All Consequences?
Different Kinds of Consequences
Asking The Right Questions
Published by Ben Smart

Content: He says to you, “You are free to say whatever you like here, but if you ever talk about climate change, you’ll be fired.” A few weeks later, you mention it in passing, and you lose your job. Is your freedom of speech being protected? Of course not. Freedom of speech is not about letting people physically utter words. It is about protecting them from consequences that are imposed in order to control or restrict what can and can’t be spoken about. In this scenario, it would be nonsensical to say that your freedom of speech was protected, but you simply weren’t protected from the consequences of what you said. Freedom From Consequences
If you’re not yet convinced, apply the same logic to ‘freedom of expression’ or ‘freedom of religion’ and you quickly see how it falls apart. Freedom of expression: you can write comics about whatever you like, but we’ll shoot you if you write something that offends us.