Free speech more popular than ever; only racists are less tolerated

We hear so much in certain sectors of the press about how "illiberalism" is overwhelming free speech, but if this chart is to be believed it's a very selective intolerance, counterbalanced by a greater tolerance of speech in other respects.

It does make you wonder what those centrist liberal sorts are stuck on when they obsess over the threat to free speech posed by teenagers at Oberlin College or whatever.

The above chart is particularly fascinating: it depicts both liberals and conservatives becoming more favorable to free speech in recent years, including racism. But closer to the center, things are static.

It gives me a sense of a small island of elite or establishment opinions where bickering between two otherwise barely-distinguishable poles -- anti-racist moderate progressives vs centrist moderates, if you like -- continues to dominate discussion among pundits and opinion writers while the house comes down.

The far right got to occupy the ruins first thanks to Trump and the cooperation of the GOP, so we're seeing a lot more racism. In the long run, though, we'll find that "political correctness" was the most liberal form of selective intolerance that racists could have hoped for, and they will eventually become its last advocates.