Free Speech, Idiocy and the Challenge of

CitizenshipPeter Bradley

Gresham College LectureMonday 24 June 2013

“Freedom or Death”

“In this country, public space can be used for free expression.

In Darfur, it is used for genocide.”

Martin Lino AgwellaBradford Speakers’ Corner, 22

April 2013

...promotes free expression, public debate and active citizenship as a means of stimulating civil

society in the UK and supporting its development in emerging

democracies.

www.speakerscornertrust.org

Two Freedoms

• Positive Liberty – the individual’s freedom to pursue rights and entitlements

• Negative Liberty - an absence of oppressive authority

Isaiah Berlin, Liberty

Freedom of the Individual

“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant . . . Over himself, over his body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Three Propositions

• democracy is a living and evolving organism which if not constantly renewed, decays – becomes decadent

• a key means of democratic renewal is active, participative citizenship

• the free flow of ideas and opinions is essential to that citizenship

Rational, Political and in Pursuit of the Good Society

• “Man is the rational animal” Nicomachean Ethics

• “Man is by nature a political animal”Politics

• “The aim of politics is the good society” Politics

Aristotle

The Primacy of Reason

“Justice and virtue can only be achieved when reason prevails over the irrational impulses of spirit and desire.”

Plato, Republic

Debate Before Decision

“…We reach decisions on public policy only after full discussion, believing that sound judgement, far from being impeded by discussion, is arrived at only when full information is considered before a decision is made.”

Pericles Funeral Oration for the Athenian

Dead, 430BC

The Citizen and the City

“Our government is called a democracy because power resides not in a few people but in the majority of our citizens. But every person has equal rights before the law; prestige and respect are paid those who win them by their merits, regardless of their political, economic or social status and no-one is deprived of making his contribution to the city’s welfare…”

Pericles

Two Kinds of Idiot

• Idiot - “A foolish or stupid person”

• ἴδιος - “Private”, “One’s Own”

• ἰδιώτης - “Private person, ignorant person”

The Idiocy of Self Interest

“…our private citizens, though occupied with their personal business, are still fair judges of public matters. Unlike people of other nations, Athenians regard those who take no part in civic duties not as unambitious but as useless.”

Pericles

παρρησία (parrhesia)

“parrhesia is a verbal activity in which a speaker…recognises truth-telling as a duty to improve or help other people (as well as himself). In parrhesia, the speaker uses his freedom and chooses frankness instead of persuasion, truth instead of falsehood or silence, the risk of death instead of life and security, criticism instead of flattery, and moral duty instead of self-interest and moral apathy.”

Michel Foucault, Fearless Speech

The Politics of Property

‘The purpose of politics - the protection of property’

Cicero, De officiis

Bowling Alone in the UK

• 70% no ties with any local community group - 80% among 18-24 year-olds YouGov for the RSA, 2007

• 33% engaged in civic participation at least once in the previous 12 months, the lowest recorded Department for Communities & Local

Government Citizenship Survey, 2011

Turnout at UK General Elections, 1918-2010

• 1918 - 57.2%• 1922 - 73.0%• 1923 - 71.1%• 1924 - 77.0%• 1929 - 76.3%• 1931 - 76.4%• 1935 - 71.1%• 1945 - 72.8%• 1950 - 83.9%• 1951 - 82.6%• 1955 - 76.8%• 1959 - 78.7%• 1964 - 77.1%

• 1966 - 75.8%• 1970 - 72.0%• Feb 1974 -

78.8%• Oct 1974 -

72.8%• 1979 - 76.0%• 1983 - 72.7%• 1987 - 75.3%• 1992 - 77.7%• 1997 - 71.4%• 2001 - 59.4%• 2005 - 61.4%• 2010 - 65.1%Colin Rallings and Michael

Thrasher, British Electoral Facts 1832-2006

House of Commons Library Research Paper UK Election Statistics: 1918-2012

Party membership as a proportion of UK electorate

1964-2010

House of Commons research note, Membership of UK political parties

Happiness in the UK 1957-2005

Happiness and Trust

“The most important factors influencing happiness appear to be the quality of our social interaction with others and the confidence we have in our country's institutions. The survey shows that trust in society is very important. The countries that scored highest for happiness also reported the highest levels of trust in their governments, laws and each other. The UK shows lower trust in government, the police and other institutions and higher social distrust, which might explain why the level of happiness among British people is also lower compared with other countries.”

Dr Louisa Corrado, Faculty of Economics, Cambridge University Happy Danes are here again April 2007

Obstacles to Citizenship

1. affluence which has improved our standard of living but – undermined our sense of common purpose,

cooperation and collective action

2. aspiration which makes us more economically mobile but – emphasises personal and material rather than social

wellbeing– raises unreasonable expectations of the democratic

system

3. the internet which has opened a window on the world but

– can slam the door on our neighbours

Magna CartaThe Great Charter of the Liberties of

England • 39. No freemen shall be

taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

• 40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice.

Peterloo Massacre16 August 1819

Two Views of Speakers’ Corner29 July 1866

• “It is against all reason and all justice that motley crowds from all parts of the metropolis should take possession of Hyde Park, and interfere with the enjoyments of those to whom the Park more particularly belongs.”The Times

• “The people have triumphed, in so far as they have vindicated their right to meet, speak, resolve, and exhort in Hyde Park.”Reynolds’ Newspaper

Speakers’ Corner TrustOccasional Essays

The Development of Free Speech in Modern Britain

“Free speech, then, is not merely a gift bestowed on us by judges and government ministers. Free speech and what it means and entails depends on people coming together in order to test its limits. A healthy democracy demands this.”

Dr John RobertsBrunel University

Speakers’ Corner Trust’s Mission

• to remind citizens of their hard-won rights and the need to exercise them

• to help stimulate a broader, more inclusive public debate about the things that matter

• to create/recreate opportunities and platforms for the exchange of ideas and

opinions

Exercising Free Speech – Practicing Citizenship

The End