On the record
For once the right to criticize is withdrawn, the executive commits all the natural follies of dictatorship.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “For once the right to criticize is withdrawn, the executive commits all the natural follies of dictatorship.”
Editor's note · Context
Laski warns that withdrawing the right to criticize can lead to dictatorial behavior by the government.
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More from Harold J. Laski
We grant it in religion to deny it in politics; we grant it in politics, to deny it in economic matters.
The essence of the persecuting position is always that the persecutor has hold of truth and that he would betray its service by allowing it to be questioned.
To deny novelty or grievance a right of expression is a certain, if, indeed, an ultimate, validation of the truth they contain.
When attacks on liberty are political or economic, it is their motive rather than their nature that changes.
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