The Price of Expression

            I am in a group chat with five of my closest friends. We text each other throughout the day every day about all kinds of topics. Some are important, some are juvenile, some are mundane. We are all professional men in our 40s and 50s, and, for me, the group is a safe place for me to vent and test limits of ideas.

            We text on topics as varied as fatherhood, baseball, religion, family, work, and politics. Our politics run from just right of center to just right of the left fringe. We have four different religions represented, five ethnicities, and three races. We’re a diverse crowd, and we talk about everything with each other.

            And I suspect that if our chats ever became public, someone would find a reason to cancel each of us because we contribute ideas regarding controversial topics, and we write about them without fear of attack or retribution.

            I think it is healthy to be able to vent and think and write about difficult topics with trusted friends because it helps each of us refine our ideas, understand differing perspectives, and find common ground despite our differences.

            My friends and our discussions are one of the best parts of my life.

            But in the real world it seems like humans are not willing to allow other humans to express their opinions on controversial topics. Express an idea that is out of favor, and a person runs the risk of being permanently ostracized from society, being financially ruined, and possibly losing their life.

            That is not healthy for a properly functioning society in my view.

            Since October 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed over a thousand Israelis and kidnapped hundreds of others – (even that statement could get me cancelled, I suppose, even though it’s a true statement) – taking sides publicly in the dispute is a dangerous proposition.

            Express outrage at the terror tactics of Hamas, and you have failed to understand the suffering that Palestinians have endured for decades. Express support for Palestinians who have endured poverty, hopelessness, and isolation caused by Israeli security tactics, and you are antisemitic.

            Last week a prominent New York City doctor was fired as director of a vital cancer center for his postings about the Israel-Hamas War. He had re-posted a series of anti-Hamas cartoons, and he had questioned the extent of the death toll caused in Gaza by Israeli bombs.

He is not the first person of prominence to lose their job because of the expression of ideas about the war. In Connecticut, this type of firing would likely not pass muster under the law. Connecticut has strong protections for employees of private companies who express opinions on matters of public concern.

            But New York is different and it is not clear if the cancer doctor’s statements will be protected.

            The question from a legal and policy perspective is whether it makes any sense to allow the termination of a doctor performing cutting-edge cancer research that can save thousands if not millions of lives for expressing an opinion about the consequences of war.

            Censoring speech has never been a good idea. The founders knew it. I wish we did not keep forgetting their important lessons.