“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” – Benjamin Franklin
Few people today realize Ben Franklin became the 18th-century equivalent of Bill Gates by franchising print shops. He trained printers, provided them with standard print faces and printing tools, and lent them capital to set up their own print shops in towns throughout the colonies. In exchange, he got a piece of the action. He also farmed out large print jobs among his network of printers, keeping them busy and employed while permitting print runs in sizes in excess of what would otherwise be possible.
It was one factor making the American colonies one of the most literate corners of the world at that time. Stuff was being printed at a tremendous rate, so there was much to read. That encouraged literacy, which created more readers. It became a virtuous circle.
Then, as today controversy created more demand for the written word. Someone would publish a pamphlet about something. Someone else took offense at it, and responded by publishing their own pamphlet refuting and rebutting the first. That, in turn, generated a response, and the cycle continued. That kept printers busy. It is hardly a wonder Franklin did not care if people were offended — it created business.
It did more than create business. In that battleground of ideas, the strong survived and the weak perished. Good ideas trumped bad ideas. Eventually, the most persuasive ideas triumphed. The world was better for it.
That is why today’s trend toward censorship is so appalling. It permits the survival of bad ideas and false dogmas. Science is becoming religion and educational indoctrination because bad ideas are not allowed to be challenged for fear someone might take offense to that challenge. In the 21st century, we may have substituted social media for printers, but Franklin’s principle remains as valid today as it was in the 18th century when he first stated it.
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