"It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living."
In this 1922 lecture, Bertrand Russell delivers a devastating critique of how modern societies restrict free thought—not through overt censorship, but through subtler and more insidious means. Nearly a century later, his warnings feel prophetic.
The Illusion of Freedom
Russell begins by noting that most people in democratic societies believe they enjoy freedom of thought. After all, there are no thought police, no official censors (in peacetime), no punishment for holding unorthodox views.
But Russell argues this is an illusion. True freedom of thought requires not just the absence of legal penalties, but the presence of certain social and economic conditions. And these conditions, he insists, are systematically undermined by those in power.
Economic Pressure
The most powerful restriction on free thought is economic. If expressing certain views makes it impossible to earn a living, then thought is not truly free. And in Russell's time (as in ours), expressing views that challenge powerful interests—corporate, political, or religious—could indeed cost you your livelihood.
Teachers, journalists, and civil servants face particularly strong pressure to conform. Their livelihoods depend on institutions that demand ideological conformity. The result is not overt censorship, but self-censorship—often unconscious.
Educational Propaganda
Russell reserves special criticism for the education system. Schools, he argues, are not primarily institutions of learning but institutions of indoctrination. Their purpose is not to teach students to think, but to teach them what to think.
"The State is not impartial as between truth and falsehood... It desires to produce loyal citizens, and it considers that loyalty is promoted by a belief in the peculiar excellence of the citizen's own country."
Every nation teaches its children that their country is the best, their history the most glorious, their cause the most just. This is not education; it is propaganda.
The Press
Russell identifies the press as another major obstacle to free thought. Newspapers, he notes, are owned by wealthy men who use them to promote their own interests. Journalists who challenge these interests find themselves unemployed.
The result is a press that appears free but actually serves the interests of capital and power. Dissenting views are marginalized or ignored. The range of acceptable opinion is carefully policed.
The Solution
Russell's solution is characteristically radical: we must create institutions that are genuinely independent of both state and capital. Universities should be self-governing. The press should be worker-owned. Teachers should have tenure and academic freedom.
Most importantly, we must cultivate in ourselves and others the habit of skepticism—not cynicism, but the willingness to question authority, challenge consensus, and think for ourselves.
Contemporary Resonance
Russell's essay feels startlingly relevant in the age of social media, cancel culture, and algorithmic content curation. The mechanisms have changed, but the fundamental problem remains: how do we create conditions for genuine free thought in a society where powerful interests have strong incentives to control what people think?
Russell's answer—institutional independence, economic security for dissenters, and cultivated skepticism—remains as relevant today as it was a century ago.
Source: Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays (1928)
Public Domain: Available via Project Gutenberg