Chilling Effect: "Just Shut Up If You Know What's Good For You"

Is this just another country?A "Professor of Public Policy, Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan" weighs in.

Normally I record the classes I teach. It gives students who miss class a chance to catch up. I also make space in my classes to talk about what is happening in government right now. A couple of weeks ago, students asked we keep the discussions, but stop recording the class. They worried about any record of their words that might be viewed as criticism of the current administration, and somehow weaponized against them.

It’s a small example of how fear is creeping into American life. The right to say what we want, to choose our topics of study, is essentially American. But we don’t live in America any longer. The truth is, we live in a foreign country now. Our idea of America — the one you grew up with if you were born here, or that drew you to this country if you were an immigrant — and the reality of America today, well, these are different places. We might get back there. But first we have to map the distance between that America and where we are now.

Consider it mapped. Spotted at Outside the Beltway.