With the holiday season upon us, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the many things for which we can and should be grateful. And yes, 2021, like the year before it, was a challenging year for most of us. But free speech actually had quite a good year.

Given the state of civil discourse and the human impulse to silence or punish others because of their speech, this may come as a surprise to many. Surely, our free speech culture is a cause for concern. However, if you look more closely, there are also plenty of reasons to be thankful. For example, although America seems more divided today than it has been for the past 50 years, the truth is that Americans are less polarized than we think.