February 3, 2025

Revolution: n., a bursting of the boilers which usually takes place when the safety valve of public discussion is closed.

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914), American writer, The Enlarged Devil’s Dictionary (1906), Seldes p.42

Is this not the danger of so-called cancel culture? That in blocking the speech of others, it makes them martyrs, when public exposure would probably render them has-beens in no time?

Public discussion does not always resolve controversy, and frequently aggravates it. But the failure to try it can lead to less pleasant consequences. People must be allowed to vent, even if the steam they blow is nonsense.