Kafkaesque

18/2/2025

‘Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.’ (Franz Kafka)

It felt painful to find myself nodding in agreement with some of the things J.D. Vance said at the Munich Security Conference last week. Painful to hear such a stinging critique of freedom of expression from a representative of a President that publicly and shamelessly hunts down his own opponents. Painful to hear the announcement of what sounded like the heralding of a potential ending of a special relationship (ironic, perhaps, on Valentines Day). Painful to see the shock and surprise of European leaders caught so off guard by such an entirely predictable US stance.

Painful most of all, however, was the reality and truth in Vance's assertion that the biggest threat to Western democracy isn’t foreign aggression from outside, but the erosion of free speech from within. The UK is leading the charge in policing thought, with others in Europe following close behind. Although some of the finer details in Vance’s speech were to be rightly challenged by fact-checking, the thrust of his argument calls for careful and urgent consideration; not the defensive denials we witnessed from hurt leaders wringing their hands, as if misunderstood.

[Are you concerned about defending free speech? See: Free Speech Union; Alumni for Free Speech]

32 Comments

Peter Reinhardt

18/2/2025 01:33:50 pm

If European leaders were "caught off guard," that’s on them. The U.S. has been saying for years that it's stepping back from old alliances. Why act surprised now? As for free speech yes, it’s a problem. But let’s not kid ourselves: this isn’t just a UK issue. The Germans, the French, the EU itself, we’ve all been tightening the screws on public discourse. If we want to be honest about it, we should stop acting like it’s only happening elsewhere.

And Vance? Please. The U.S. is hardly a beacon of free thought these days. Maybe, instead of pointing fingers, we should all take a hard look in the mirror.

Nick Wright

19/2/2025 11:01:15 am

Hi Peter. Yes indeed - I can't understand how the European leaders hadn't been already scenario-planning in advance for this kind of messaging and stance from the US. As you say, Trump hasn't been keeping his views secret on these fronts.

'Maybe, instead of pointing fingers, we should all take a hard look in the mirror.' That's good advice - but who is listening?

Wojciech Nowak

18/2/2025 01:40:42 pm

Nick. Poland knows what happens when free speech dies. We have lived it.

The West has taken its liberties for granted believing them indestructible. They are not. The first step in dismantling a democracy is the control of thought and that begins with speech. Censorship whether by the state or by social pressure is the beginning of something far darker. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

The question is: Will anyone listen before it is too late?

19/2/2025 10:34:53 am

Hi Wojciech. Yes indeed. I remember vividly the costly and courageous struggle, led by Lech Wałęsa and Solidarność, to release Poland from Communist control. It should serve as a stark reminder to all of us in Europe that democratic values and privileges are hard-gained...and too easily lost. I don't see anyone in the UK government fighting hard to retain democratic freedom of expression and opinion, in spite of its weak rhetoric to the contrary. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

Seán O’Donnell

18/2/2025 01:43:29 pm

Hi Nick. The Yanks love preaching about democracy while their own country is eating itself alive. The Brits? Masters of controlling speech for centuries. Now they’ve just rebranded it under 'modern values.' Let’s not pretend this is new. The real question is: Who gets to decide what’s okay to say and who can say it? Because if it’s the same crowd who can’t even agree on basic reality, we’re in for a mess. Great post!

19/2/2025 10:15:40 am

Hi Seán. That's an interesting historical reminder. I remember when Margaret Thatcher prevented UK media allowing viewers to hear Gerry Adams' speeches. Bizarrely, we were allowed to see him speaking, and for a voice-over to say exactly the words he was saying - but we weren't allowed to hear his actual voice saying them. I guess that was an earlier experiment in state censorship.

Derek Watkins

18/2/2025 05:24:02 pm

Hi Nick. Interesting blog. But do you really think clampdown on free speech is a greater threat to Western democracy than a nuclear-armed megalomaniac like Putin?

19/2/2025 10:24:48 am

Thanks Derek. Good question. I believe a nuclear-armed Putin represents a serious threat to Western nations (democracies) militarily and, to some degree, economically - and the same could be said to be true vice versa. Having said that, I believe the greater threat to democracy itself - that is, democracy per se - lays in the gradual undermining of critical pillars of democracy in the UK and other European states by government authorities in those states: particularly vis a vis 'freedom of expression and opinion.' It's an erosion of democracy from the inside that could cause the whole democratic system-structure to collapse.

Sharon Fallon

19/2/2025 10:03:17 am

Hi Nick. You have an uncanny way of seeing things happening before other people see them. I remember your blogs predicting the rise of the far right across Europe and some of the reactions you got. I hope you're not right on where things are going on free speech in the UK and wider Europe...but I have an awful feeling in my stomach that you are right. I'm glad JD Vance called it out but I don't see our political elite listening.

19/2/2025 11:13:13 am

Thank you, Sharon. I pray and reflect - and, sometimes, patterns emerge into awareness that I, too, hadn't seen before. Yes, I remember predicting the rise of far right influence across Europe almost 10 years ago now. It felt like an almost apocalyptic vision at the time, yet I could see how strategies and policies of EU governments and institutions were inadvertently creating the conditions in which the far right would thrive. I believe the current UK government(s) are also behaving in ways that will increase support for the far right - particularly by dismantling free speech in, naively and paradoxically, an attempt to undermine 'far right' thought and action. I hope I'm wrong.

Juan Carlos Herrera

19/2/2025 10:05:47 am

We’re sleepwalking into censorship, and most people don’t even see it.

Tech companies already control what you can say. Governments are expanding that power. If you think this will stop at hate speech laws, you’re naive. Soon, questioning policies, elections, even history itself could be "problematic."

Vance might be a hypocrite, but he’s right about one thing: the West is losing its nerve on free speech. And once it’s gone, good luck getting it back.

19/2/2025 11:14:30 am

Hi Juan. 'The West is losing its nerve on free speech. And once it’s gone, good luck getting it back.' A true and very sober warning.

Astrid Nilsson

19/2/2025 10:07:37 am

Hey Nick. Thank you for writing this blog. This is a difficult debate and one that requires nuance.

Yes, free speech is vital. But it is also true that speech has consequences. Words can incite violence, spread falsehoods and undermine trust in democratic institutions. Societies must find a way to balance open dialogue with responsibility.

However, I do worry that in our efforts to prevent harm, we may be closing off discussions that need to happen. Censorship, even with good intentions, can become a tool of control. We must tread carefully.

19/2/2025 12:56:32 pm

Thank you, Astrid. I think that's a fair and important challenge and I liked the way you expressed, with nuance, what can feel like a trickly balancing act. On that theme, this short related piece may be of interest? https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/truth-telling

Lucy Collinson

19/2/2025 10:10:18 am

I was horrified to find myself agreeing with Vance too. Can anything good come from a Trump presidency? Now I'm thinking maybe yes. How on earth did we get in such a mess?!

19/2/2025 12:58:30 pm

Hi Lucy. Me too. How did we get here? That's a big, complex and important question. I don't hear many of our leaders asking it.

Phil Hearsum

19/2/2025 10:40:38 am

Interesting blog as always Nick. However, I think Vance should have stuck to the script - European defence against Russian aggression - and not wandered off into a lecture on free speech and migration. It was a misuse of the platform given to him and further undermined trust in the fragile relationship between EU and USA.

19/2/2025 01:02:40 pm

Thanks Phil. That's an interesting point. Yes, Vance certainly took a gamble. Whether his speech was off script or not at an international security conference - I guess that's a debatable question. Democratic values, structural-political integrity and (inter)national security are, in my view, integrally-linked.

Penny Bourke

19/2/2025 10:42:08 am

Hi Nick! Embarrassing question: what are the pillars of a democracy? I know I should know this!

19/2/2025 10:55:38 am

Hi Penny. That's a good question! Democratic systems and processes around the world vary from state to state and institution to institution. However, they are all based (to varying degrees, in practice) on these 10 common values and principles:

1. Popular sovereignty: The government derives its authority from the consent of the people. Citizens have the right to participate in free and fair elections.

2. Rule of law: Laws apply equally to all individuals, including government officials. Legal processes ensure justice, transparency and accountability.

3. Political pluralism and competition: Multiple political parties and candidates can compete in elections. A diversity of opinions and ideologies is protected.

4. Fundamental rights and freedoms: Protection of civil liberties such as freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion. Minority rights are safeguarded to prevent majoritarian oppression.

5. Separation of powers and checks and balances: Government powers are divided among different branches (executive, legislative, judicial). Each branch has mechanisms to limit the power of the others to prevent authoritarian rule.

6. Free and fair elections: Regular, transparent and competitive elections allow for peaceful transitions of power.
Electoral processes prevent fraud and ensure equal voting rights.

7. Majority rule with minority rights: Decisions are made based on majority votes while protecting minority interests.
Mechanisms exist to prevent discrimination and oppression.

8. Transparency and accountability: Public officials are accountable to the people and subject to oversight. Citizens have the right to access information about government actions.

9. Civic participation and engagement: Citizens are encouraged to engage in political processes through voting, protests, and public discourse. Civil society organisations play a role in advocating for rights and policies.

10. Independent judiciary: Courts operate without political influence to uphold justice. Judges ensure laws are applied fairly and constitutionally.

You can see from this list that J.D. Vance was challenging European democracies on point 4 in this list in particular - arguing that to undermine this pillar is to erode the foundations of democracy as a whole.

Nikos Papadopoulos

19/2/2025 10:57:07 am

Nick. The ancients knew this well: to restrict speech is to restrict thought. Socrates drank the hemlock for the crime of questioning. Plato warned of the tyranny of the many. Have we learned nothing? We are told that censorship is for our safety. That some words must not be spoken. But where does it end? Who holds the scales of justice over speech? If democracy is to mean anything, it must begin with the right to speak freely, no matter how uncomfortable the "truth" may be.

19/2/2025 01:06:02 pm

Hi Nikos - and well said. 'Who holds the scales of justice over speech?'. Yes, and who gets to decide what should be deemed allowable and appropriate to express, or not, and by whom, and not? 'If democracy is to mean anything, it must begin with the right to speak freely, no matter how uncomfortable the "truth" may be.' I agree. It's fundamental.

Lotte van den Berg

19/2/2025 11:16:29 am

The UK, once so bold, now trembles at the thought of words unfiltered. Europe follows, careful not to upset the delicate order. We ban, we silence, we reshape narratives to fit the moment. But who decides what is true? Who decides what is dangerous? Speech is thought made audible. To police one is to control the other. That is what should frighten us.

19/2/2025 01:07:31 pm

Oh wow, Lotte - you expressed that so succinctly and so well. 'Who decides what is true? Who decides what is dangerous? Speech is thought made audible. To police one is to control the other. That is what should frighten us.' I agree - absolutely.

Brenda Gillies

19/2/2025 01:09:03 pm

Aren't you just being a bit paranoid about the 'free speech' thing, Nick?

19/2/2025 01:17:56 pm

Hi Brenda. I wish I was. On the free speech front, the UK is sleepwalking into a dystopian nightmare, from which it may not be that easy to wake up.

You may find Andrew Doyle's 'Free Speech and Why it Matters' (2021) interesting to glance at, or the Free Speech Union website for multiple and specific case examples in the UK: https://freespeechunion.org/

19/2/2025 04:10:59 pm

No offence Nick but I can’t stand libertarian w**k**s like you.

19/2/2025 04:21:45 pm

Hi DT. Thank you for exercising your democratic right to freedom of expression - and for demonstrating it so articulately.

Debs Jones

19/2/2025 04:13:46 pm

Hi Nick. Great article. Lord William Hague today: ‘We cannot prepare for the turbulent decades to come by shielding ourselves from inconvenient arguments, wrapping ourselves in comfort blankets of cancellation, or suppressing minority views because they conflict with the beguiling certainty of a majority. We need free thought and speech without hatred.’ What do you think? I liked that. 👍

19/2/2025 04:19:42 pm

Thank you, Debs. ‘We need free thought and speech without hatred.’ I like that too.

Lilla

23/2/2025 01:15:27 pm

I want to thank you for inspiring me to read your blogs, Nick! In today’s rapidly changing world, seeking the truth is more crucial than ever. I firmly believe that raising awareness is the initial stride towards genuine transformation.

Growing up under communism, I experienced firsthand how precious freedom is. Your call to fight for it resonates deeply with me because I remember how intellectual expression often led to imprisonment or exile in my country.

23/2/2025 09:07:25 pm

Thank you for your encouraging feedback, Lilla. I'm reading a book at the moment, inspired by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, called 'Live not by lies.' The writer, Rod Dreher, comments similarly that those who lived under communist totalitarianism are more often attuned to drifts in that direction in democratic societies today than those of us who have never known any different. Yes, freedom is precious: very hard won and too easily lost.

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