I 100% agree with Franklin but here is the issue, if only good people are capable of freedom because resumable good people won't use their freedom to commit evil, what good is freedom then? If you will only use your freedom to be good then you have no use for freedom because your actions are already restricted by your virtue.
There's a massive problem you didn't identify: good people don't always know what is good. This is where freedom of expression, through inquiry and discussion, has corrected a massive catalog of errors that would have destroyed the US otherwise.
Free expression, through the power of discovery, has also guaranteed the supremacy of the US, which is taken for granted.
Franklin's quote is absolutely correct, but it's descriptive, not prescriptive. You are advocating for things we "should" do, but that word is premised on the virtue that we would lack. In fact once the virtue is gone, all that remains is corruption and deterministic natural selection. You would be better off trying to secure your personal future instead of worrying about dying in the workings of an amoral system.
Arguably, none of the expression that benefitted the USA was evil expression and there is a lot of expression that has poisoned the USA. A society that allowed the good expression and not the bad would be healthier than the USA.
If we had psychic foreknowledge, it would be possible to outlaw all "bad" expression. Otherwise there is a necessary discovery process enabled by free expression.
Arguably, none of the expression that benefitted the USA was evil expression
The fact that you had to use the word "arguably" demonstrates the above.
There's a massive problem you didn't identify: good people don't always know what is good. This is where freedom of expression, through inquiry and discussion, has corrected a massive catalog of errors that would have destroyed the US otherwise.
Free expression, through the power of discovery, has also guaranteed the supremacy of the US, which is taken for granted.
Franklin's quote is absolutely correct, but it's descriptive, not prescriptive. You are advocating for things we "should" do, but that word is premised on the virtue that we would lack. In fact once the virtue is gone, all that remains is corruption and deterministic natural selection. You would be better off trying to secure your personal future instead of worrying about dying in the workings of an amoral system.
Arguably, none of the expression that benefitted the USA was evil expression and there is a lot of expression that has poisoned the USA. A society that allowed the good expression and not the bad would be healthier than the USA.
If we had psychic foreknowledge, it would be possible to outlaw all "bad" expression. Otherwise there is a necessary discovery process enabled by free expression.
The fact that you had to use the word "arguably" demonstrates the above.
I disagree. I was just including it because I realize it's controversial but good speech can be predetermined. There are objective morals.
If you realize it's legitimately controversial, then there's no reason to trust that you or anyone else will make the right call.