Cancel culture continues to march through our country. People who hold differing opinions from those on the left which includes media and political figures, are doing everything they can to silence anyone that disagrees with them. Even showing support for someone who holds a controversial or offensive opinion can result in that person being ostracized. Just ask Sharon Osbourne.

What is surprising me though is the growing trend of foreign governments to take actions that are strengthening free speech in their countries because they are worried that the canceled culture movement will spread to their country. The latest government official to express concern is Quebec Premier Francois Legault. He wrote that "a handful of radical activists can be seen trying to censor some words and works" in academia. "We see a movement coming from the United States and frankly, I don't think it's like us," he explained. "What's really disturbing is that more and more people are feeling intimidated. They feel forced to self-censure, lest they get insulted and exposed in the public square."

French President Emmanuel Macron, for instance, said that "certain social science theories entirely imported from the United States" are a threat to his nation's unity. His education minister said that "there's a battle to wage against an intellectual matrix from American universities."

Likewise, Britain's education minister announced the appointment of a "Free Speech Champion" and confirmed that the government would sanction universities that fail to actively support environments of free expression.

Did you ever think you would see a time when America, the bastion of freedom, would be the country that others looked at as an example of what not to do? We are supposed to be the country that protects an individual's freedoms including and especially the right to free speech. Now we are an example of what other countries do not want to become rather than what they sought to emulate.

We have allowed our educational system, primarily at the college and University level, along with support from certain sectors of our country, such as politicians, the media, and groups that represent minorities, to dictate what can and cannot be said. We have allowed them to teach multiple generations that voices must be silenced if they are offensive and then to change the definition of what is offensive.

The right to free speech means that you have a right to say whatever you would like no matter how offensive it is to any segment of society, with very few limitations. You do not have a right to be heard but you do have a right to be able to speak. In the past we have used truly offensive statements as an educational opportunity to teach our kids why that person is wrong or their opinion is offensive.

Now we have an administration at the federal level that wants to impose restrictions on who can speak or what can be said and where it can be said. We have school systems banning books because they are offensive in some way shape or form, including many that are considered to be classics. Rather than teach kids the lessons to be learned from these books, educators and politicians seem to believe it is better to shield the little snowflakes from anything that might be uncomfortable. Is it any wonder we have at least two generations that don't know how to overcome obstacles?

Free speech is a pillar of our Republic. If we allow it to be restricted then we have no hope of remaining a free people or of progressing and becoming better. Every change we have made as a nation that has moved us away from things we did not like such as slavery has happened because someone dared to speak out. Many groups of people in this country have rights that they were not given early on in our history because someone spoke up and fomented change. We do not have a tyranny because people were free to tell our political leaders that they were wrong and to remove them from office. Making it difficult to speak your mind freely will take this country backwards and create a tyrannical power structure from which we may never escape. It is time for each of us on some level to raise our voices and let others know that this is not acceptable.