New from @jtlevy: It's easy to conflate openness to different ideas and "free speech" with bestowing prestige on the powerful, even if they have used that power for evil.
There's a difference. It's time to set some standards.
<Thread> 1/
niskanencenter.org/honoring-the-d…
Take universities: Professors should be allowed to lecture as they see fit, students should be allowed to defend their viewpoints, and campus organizations should be able to invite speakers of their choice....even if the arguments are in favor of odious ideas or policies. 2/
But those who used their power to stymy human rights, those who lied throughout their careers, those who undermined democracy...the list goes on...should not be HONORED for they did. Nor should they receive recognition simply because they held power. 3/
A person’s odious past doesn’t discredit their ideas. Still, the fact that someone’s ideas are permissible in debate does not mean their past must be glossed over or celebrated.
When an institution refuses to CELEBRATE them, it must not be confused with "cancel culture." 4/
But how to know when to celebrate or not to celebrate someone? Where to draw the line? Here are two standards to consider. 5/
1. DO NOT celebrate those who took direct part in the most shameful aspects of the Trump presidency, like...
❌cruel attacks on legal immigration
❌ solicitation of Ukrainian election interference and the attempt to cover that up
❌lying to the public
...the list goes on... /6
2. IF anyone who participated in these things are to be publicly honored, it must be in spite of, not because of, their various contributions to Trump’s cause.
Their work on Trump’s behalf should not be counted as what makes them interesting and therefore worth attending to. 7/
Of course, different people will draw lines differently, and that's ok.
What we must always remember is that "power isn’t virtue. Abuses of power shouldn’t be honored when the powerful are living any more than statues should be built to honor evil after they are dead." 8/8
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