anti-free speech riots at UC Berkeley.

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How strange it is that in a span of about half a century, Berkeley has gone from being a beacon of pro-free speech student activism to the situation now: journalist and conservative social critic Milo Yiannopolous chased off campus by vigilante hooliganism which also resulted in the destruction of $100,000 worth of property and provoked sectarian street violence in an anarchic rampage. Has modern academia become such an echo chamber that it can no longer tolerate opposing views to prevailing wisdom? As an American and a liberal in the classical tradition, I affirm Milo's right free speech and public assembly, regardless of whether I agree with any of his particular views (and I certainly don't about everything he says). As he points out, a major theme of his tour of American colleges has been the growing political atmosphere on the campus left which explicitly rejects free speech as a necessary right. When he is forced by mob intimidation to abdicate his stage, his assertion is perfectly illustrated and proven correct. The Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley starting in 1964 was a coalition of a board range of groups across the political spectrum united around a common principle of ensuring a basic right. It's sad that we've gone from that to delving this far into tribalistic internecine warfare brought on by the breakdown of communication and debate between varying ideological camps.