Friedrich A. Hayek: the next construction for the giant

Abstract

The freedom that most of the British people still take seriously - apart from the freedom to choose one's own government - is the freedom to say and write what one wants to say and write: freedom of expression. Any state attempt to violate freedom immediately generates a storm of rebuke. It can be trusted that the mass media will have a powerful turn in their defence, because this particular freedom still occupies an almost sacred place in the pantheon of human rights and arouses an almost religious faith and fervor. In this sense, at the very least, it can be validly stated that freedom is still an existing principle, a principle by which many people would be willing to die.
Magnificent! We must thank the little mercedes, and thank God that there is at least one area of human behavior where freedom is considered vitally valuable, let alone essential. But why only in this area? At a time when the State can interfere in all other areas and control them extensively, why has this particular area been highlighted as especially defenseworthy?
The traditional answer is that freedom of expression is extremely important, the father and mother of all other freedoms, the only one that really matters. I find it very difficult to accept this proposition/except in circumstances that certainly do not occur now. If we could assume that freedom of expression will always be used to protect other freedoms, that those who use the right to describe what they wish will defend the right of others to do what they wish, the notion that all others depend on would be valid.