{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "If you\u2019ve seen the critically acclaimed Broadway musical \u201cHamilton,\u201d then you\u2019ve heard the song \u201cFarmer Refuted.\u201d It\u2019s based on...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/153974943778/", "html": "<blockquote><p>If you\u2019ve seen the critically acclaimed Broadway musical \u201cHamilton,\u201d then you\u2019ve heard the song \u201cFarmer Refuted.\u201d It\u2019s based on a letter a young Alexander Hamilton wrote \u2014 he was barely 20 \u2014 offering a passionate defense of individual liberty and the brewing American Revolution. Yet he did not sign it under his own name, instead writing as \u201ca sincere friend of America.\u201d</p>\n\n<p><br/>\nThis overlooked fact deserves greater attention. Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s musical has renewed Americans\u2019 appreciation of Hamilton, one of our nation\u2019s most dynamic founders. Never before have his life and views, from his defense of individual rights to his opposition to slavery, been so celebrated. But Hamilton\u2019s frequent use of anonymous speech has received scant attention, even though it has a significant bearing on American politics today.</p>\n\n<p><br/>\nAnonymous speech was a frequent feature of Hamilton\u2019s life \u2014 and of the American founding overall. Arguably the single most influential piece leading to American independence was \u201cCommon Sense,\u201d the pamphlet penned by Thomas Paine anonymously. Just over a decade later, Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay co-wrote the Federalist Papers as \u201cPublius.\u201d</p>\n\n<p><br/>\nThese were not unconnected or uncommon occurrences. The United States was built in large part on the exchange of ideas circulated anonymously. In the years before the Declaration of Independence, anonymous speech was one of the greatest weapons the colonists used against the tyrant King George III. As for the Constitution, had Publius and others not anonymously dialogued in newspapers about the equally revolutionary document, it might never have been adopted, nor would have the subsequent Bill of Rights with its First Amendment guarantee of free speech.</p>\n\n<p><br/>\nThe bottom line is that it is highly probable that the United States would not even exist without anonymous speech. Sadly, we have forgotten this lesson somewhere in the intervening years. Today, anonymous speech is too often demonized, derided as \u201cdark,\u201d or otherwise dismissed for its lack of \u201ctransparency.\u201d</p>\n\n<p><br/>\nAlthough there are many examples, the brunt of these attacks centers on the anonymous speech used by nonprofit organizations on both the right and the left. These groups reach out to the public with messages on a wide number of issues, and they can be supported by individuals, corporations, unions and more. The nationwide campaign against anonymous speech is, by and large, a campaign to force these supporters\u2019 identities into the open.</p>\n\n<p><br/>\n[\u2026]</p>\n\n<p><br/>\nSome opponents of anonymous political speech claim it enables businesses and individuals to advocate in secret for government policies that benefit themselves. But an idea aired in the public forum \u2014 whether it\u2019s suggested by an individual, nonprofit or business \u2014 doesn\u2019t mandate an action. It asks people to evaluate the merits of the argument and to decide for themselves if the proposed change would advance society. As then-Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission in 1995, \u201c \u2018the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.\u2019 .\u2009.\u2009. Don\u2019t underestimate the common man. People are intelligent enough to evaluate the source of an anonymous writing.\u201d Perhaps we should have more faith that voters \u2014 and reporters \u2014 are smart enough to smell a rat.</p>\n\n<p><br/>\nWhen anonymous speech flourishes, ideas that are unpopular, controversial and revolutionary have a much better chance of finding their way into the public square and gaining wider public acceptance. Absent anonymous speech, America\u2019s political discourse would become less vibrant, more impoverished. Hamilton proved it.</p></blockquote>\nWhat Hamilton teaches us about the importance of anonymous speech (WaPo)"}