People may believe that there can be a society where dissent is not permitted, but which is nonetheless not a fear society because everyone agrees with one another and therefore no one wants to dissent.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Will dissent be permitted? The answer to that question will determine whether the society is a free society or a fear society.
In contrast, fear societies are societies in which dissent is banned.
Has there ever been a society which has died of dissent? Several have died of conformity in our lifetime.
A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.
If there is one thing I fear less than everything else, it is, I believe, persecution for my opinions. There are a good many points about which I may be diffident, but when it comes to questions of Truth and intellectual independence, there is no holding me - I can envisage no finer end than to sacrifice oneself for a conviction.
There's no reason for the establishment to fear me. But it has every right to fear the people collectively - I am one with the people.
Can someone within that society walk into the town square and say what they want without fear of being punished for his or her views? If so, then that society is a free society. If not, it is a fear society.
Free societies are societies in which the right of dissent is protected.
Conformism is a potent statement, and as much as we do talk about individuality in fashion, there's a sense that people are fearful of not conforming and not being part of action.
No opposing quotes found.