Mr. Jimmy Quinn
National Review
Mr. Quinn:
I share your disrespect for, and suspicion of, China’s communist rulers, but I don’t share your belief that distribution of China Daily on American streets is something that we Americans not only should worry about but also prevent (“U.S. Cities Are Awash in Chinese Propaganda. Why Do We Put Up with It?” August 26). Rather, I think it’s something that we should be proud of.
Unlike the goons ruling China, we Americans are unafraid of ideas. As long as these are peddled and expressed peacefully, we trust ourselves and our fellow citizens to sort out the relatively few good ones from the mass of bad ones. Or, at any rate, we wisely don’t trust individuals in government – even duly elected officials in our own governments – with the power to proscribe or prescribe our sources of knowledge and information.
I’m not so naïve as to believe that the truth will always win out. The truth never has had, and never will have, a record so sterling. But far better for us to fight communism and totalitarianism with our principles and historic strengths – including our hostility to our government superintending our access to information – than to fight communism and totalitarianism by adopting their illiberal mindset and tactics.
That China Daily is free to hawk itself on American streets testifies to our self-confidence and to what is great about America.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
