Monumental Hysteria II

"Well, I'm sorry if the truth offends you."
--Rhett Butler (Gone With The Wind)

Previously we discussed the loss of historical perspective possible when seek to remove or destroy historical monuments positioned in public places. However, there is a good argument that they should be removed. The argument is similar to the one made in favor of removing Confederate flags flying in public places.

By 'public places,' we mean government land, buildings, and associated infrastructure owned and operated by the government. This includes but is not limited to government buildings and public parks at the federal, state, and local levels.

The display of any monument or artifact of any kind--save perhaps national, state, and local flags which can be seen as a form of geographic affiliation--constitutes a form of speech. The government does not enjoy the same freedom of speech that we enjoy as individuals. If government was free to endorse an opinion, then it could employ its virtual monopoly of force to coerce others to abide by it. The entire purpose of the First Amendment is to keep government out of the business of speech.

Viewed from this perspective, all Confederate monuments should be removed from public places. But these monuments are just the focus du jour. This argument extends to virtually all public monuments currently standing that can be construed as expressing any opinion. The low hanging fruit would include shrines to religion, war, social issues, and particular groups including minorities.

That the logical extension of this argument includes consideration about the appropriateness of even the most basic of symbols, including the American flag, demonstrates just how little speech government should be engaged in.

A similar argument, btw, can be made for dismantling public schools as it is impossible to keep them value neutral.

Does that mean that all of the monuments to these groups and issues should be destroyed? By all means no. It means they should be privatized. As Ryan McMaken proposes, those upset with the removal of Confederate monuments from public grounds should lawfully obtain them from the government or their rightful owners (or make new ones, of course), purchase a chunk of private land--perhaps near a busy intersection, and put their statues there.