This essay points out the historical importance of freedom of speech in the rise and fall of nations. My major point is that over the past two centuries, nations have flourished or failed to flourish to the degree that they have adopted the social practices of scientific inquiry, democracy, and the free market, each of which requires freedom of speech. Those societies that did not embrace the freedom of speech necessary for the operation of the three practices were handicapped in com- petition with societies that did. In sum, the amount of free speech in any society has been central to the ability of that society to avoid disaster and to flourish.

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