1 post tagged “coercion”

Here's a quote from Martin Wolf that elucidates the surprisingly high cost of aggressive communication style:

If one set of opinions is allowed to suppress others, by force or by fear of force, then the permanent discussion that should permeate any free and democratic society ends.  Only the freedom to challenge and debate can overthrow prejudice.  Coercion does not secure conviction, but merely suppresses dissent.

The quote is from a longish article of Wolf's in Financial Times, and I don't necessarily agree with the entire article.  But this small excerpt describes a separable and important idea: aggression hurts truth, even when trying to defend it.

For the curious, here's the article's full text.