To the Editor:
On the asymmetry of Robert Lendvai's '99 satirical article ["Limit Free Speech," The Dartmouth, April 3], I entirely concur. Whether it's "a poor example of the 'classic slippery slope'" [The Dartmouth, April 8] I most fervently disagree.
Instead of revealing the article's satirical nature right from the start, Lendvai logically develops a perfect mechanism by which a tyrannical system would develop from purely good intentions. Of course you must agree that tyranny does not spring in suddenly and with an obvious vengeance: it creeps in unnoticed and entrenches itself unobtrusively but after a time its presence becomes most uncomfortably noticeable but then it's too late to retract.
If Lendvai had revealed his satirical intentions right from the start, most proponents of speech codes would not read the article to the end: they would dismiss it offhand! But Lendvai forces you to think about what would logically happen.
I commend him for a job well done!
