Eight Values of Free Expression

 

 The Eight Values of Free Expression

There are different forms in which we as humans express ourselves underneath the First Amendment. The eight being the marketplace of ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, checks on governmental power, promotion of tolerance, promotion of innovation, and the protection of dissent. This blog post doesn't focus on providing definitions for the above stated expressions, instead it focuses on identifying the ones that are most important to me. If you are interested in learning more about the above terms, I encourage you to take a look at Professor Smith's Speech Theories blog. 

Generally speaking, each of these values work together to create what we know as freedom of expression. However, I find that three of these speak more to me than the other five, and I believe that will be the case for many of you reading this as well. The three being: participation in self-government, individual self-fulfillment, and protection of dissent. 

Participation in self-government is very important to me with the current 2024 election. False claims have been made on both parties sides -which is shown in debates and through social media posts. However, the information being allowed to circulate enables me to make my own informed choices based on my beliefs and policies that I agree with.

Individual self-fulfillment is equally important as the participation of self-government to me. Individual self-fulfillment allows me to appreciate others creativity as well as my own. This is especially important to me because Banksy is one of my favorite artists, and overtime he has incurred tons of controversy. Take for instance Banksy's Sales End portrait which mocks wide-spread consumerism that takes place in western civilizations. Although Banksy is not centralized in the United States, the first amendment protects the right for Americans to view the anonymous artist's art and spread their own personal feelings about him. Without individual self-fulfillment, artists such as Banksy would not be able to spread their creativity -which is a huge part of what makes us human, and what I value so much as an American. 

As the child of two parents who served in the United States military and as someone who is employed on a military base, the protection of dissent is very important to me. Like many others, I hate the idea of war and my heart yearns for those who have been impacted by a war personally. The protection of dissent allows for me to voice my displeasure with the current deployments of United States troops. The protection of dissent also allows me to voice my thoughts -no matter the unpopularity of them. 

Although, values such as the free market-place of ideas has allowed important progressions such as remedies to illnesses and technological advances, one being the iPhone. These values do not speak as much to me in my day-to-day life. Granted, it would be quite difficult to imagine life without these values, citizens of other countries do not have the above values that protect their freedom of expression.