In the following discussion, Todd S. Mill, great grandson of John S. Mill, argues with a Nazi sympathizer named Helmut, that, according to his great grandfather’s On Liberty, Helmut’s Nazi organization has no right to parade through the streets of a primarily Jewish community-a community which houses many relatives of those who were victims of the Holocaust.
Helmut: I can’t believe these over-sensitive Jews. They actually think we are not allowed the same rights to freedom of expression as they are. All we are doing is marching through the streets and exhibiting our free thoughts and ideas, which happen to be pro-Nazi. They have no right to try to have the law interfere with our actions just because they do not like what we feel. It is still our right to feel any way we like, regardless of how others feel. That is what democracy is all about.
Todd: Helmut, you do have the right to freedom of thought, opinion, and expression in a democracy like the United States. However, my great grandfather John argued that there are certain circumstances when the state has a right to interfere with those freedoms, and that is when they might cause harm to others. If this is the case, then it is justified for the state to step into the matter, “That principle is that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection” (Mill 10).
Helmut: Awwwh, they’re still miffed because of what happened with Hitler and all that. We are not trying to cause harm to them. We are merely freely parading our ideology through the public streets. How can the state be justified in stopping our actions just because the Jews don’t like it. We are not doing anything to cause them physical harm.
Todd: John would have to disagree with you on this point Helmut. You are being very insensitive to the feelings, bel
...