Ep 118: Is free speech a Unicorn?

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses whether anyone believes in free speech without limitations? Free speech is commonly cited as a value of certain groups; however, does any society live up to that standard at any time? Can free speech exist in a fashion which meets the SlateStarCodex/GK Chesterton standard, whereby the genuine outgroup gets to say whatever it wants without consequences, formal or informal? What level of punishment or consequences given to verboten ideas means free speech no longer exists? Did free speech exist for Communists in America in the 1950s? Did free speech exist for Christians in the USSR? Did free speech exist for atheists in Zwingli’s Geneva? Did free speech exist during the world wars in any society? Did free speech exist during the “War on Covid”? It is quite clear in all these cases that the outgroup faced consequences or merely the inability to spread the message they wanted to a large audience. Does harassment and doxxing count as free speech? Should right-libertarians support free speech? Does free speech in areas which are genuinely relevant even exist? If an issue is important enough, wouldn’t the cost of being right/wrong or politically correct/incorrect be high? Is free speech a unicorn?