Never Be Afraid To Speak Your Truth.

Ray Visotski , a good friend, and publisher of Mitigating Chaos, posts this story this morning about a teacher giving her class a lesson on "Anne Frank" and the Nazi regime. When the Nazis began to discriminate against the Jews, it began with separating them from the rest of society. They were made to wear cloth badges identifying them as Jewish. Few objected. "It's just a piece of cloth", they said. But, this lesson shows how humans and societies can be lulled into a false sense of security, or cowed into failing to speak up to injustice. The fable of the king with no clothes is a good example. Those of us who gain a reputation of being loud or obnoxious about expressing ourselves risk embarrassment or attacks; but, in my view, the consequences of failing to speak truth to power can be much worse. Never be afraid to speak up. Never be afraid to defend your truth. Never allow someone else to tell you what to think. As lawyers, we have a special responsibility to support everyone's right to speak their mind. Free speech is not just a right. It is essential to a free society. We don't just defend pleasant, agreeable speech. We defend all speech, no matter how we feel about it. So, the next time someone tries to silence you because your speech upsets them, fight back. Otherwise, you might find yourself hiding in an attic.

Comments

[Julian Summerhayes]

Amen to this Rick.

Happy holidays.

Take care,
Julian

[Ray Visotski]

Look, Mom...I’ve made the big leagues!

Thanks for the mention, Rick and may you have a technology-filled New Year.