Discussion of The Importance of Free Speech

“Care about other people’s approval, and you will be a prisoner too”. When expressing an opinion out loud, it may come across some rejection, due to how us humans work. If we were all the same person, then we wouldn’t be able to advance as much as we have. Having an opinion is important, because by that, people can see things in a different perspective, it enlightens them on how different someone else’s thought process may be. To see something different and expressing it, people may describe it as free speech, the ability to think of what’s on one’s mind and say it. Like Lao Tzu said, it’s not about looking for approval, but to think about what’s right with that opinion. The problem with free speech is that with all the social medias, news articles, etc. that people have access to, may become harmful to one. Free speech isn’t bad, it is necessary, but when not many people come to the same conclusion/opinion, it becomes more of them either respecting their opinion, or trying to force you upon the same thoughts most people think of, or in other words, believing in only the “popular opinion”, and even when it doesn’t end well, everyone should acknowledge the importance and benefits of it.

Freedom of speech is always allowed, since it’s basically a right to everyone, but when people don’t share that same opinion, or they strongly disagree with it, it becomes a controversy. 3 years ago, the US Representative from 2003, Steve King, tweeted a “different” opinion. According to (King), he said “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s baby”(@SteveKingIA, 1:40 - 12 Mar, 2017), and so he was met with not only hate, but comments on his image on how he was a nazi and such were made. The tweet was frowned upon, and not respected as a normal opinion would be, so why even allow everyone to have freedom of speech if it’s just going to get one hate for saying what one thinks? It is just as important to respect someone’s opinion because it may show another solution to the situation at hand, but people are willing to ride along the wave of blind hate, instead of thinking it from a logical standpoint. Likewise, someone defending this view by the name of Jon Jafari, modt commomly known as Jontron, stated “Wow, how scandalous, Steve King doesn't want his country invaded by people who have contempt for his culture and people! NAZI!!!” (@JonTronShow, 4:21 - Mar 12, 2017). Which obviously led to him being caught up on the hate as well for defending it, albeit if he was agreeing or disagreeing. This shows how someone can have freedom of speech, but it is never mentioned how a single opinion can destroy their, or their reputation. They have to acknowledge that not everyone will think the same about that specific topic, so going on a witch hunt against this type of people isn’t going to change their minds, they’re only going to regret saying their opinions out loud. It is important to learn that the persona they show to everyone isn’t the same person that they are in their daily lives.

That being said, even though negativity can come from freedom of speech (or possibly the end of one’s career) one must acknowledge the value of freedom of speech. It’s just as Harvey C. Manfield states, “We imply that it's valuable because its restraint would undermine our freedom, which is a way of avoiding the question more than of answering it.”(Manfield, The Value of Free Speech) Undervaluing it would just result in us limiting free speech even more than it already is, because despite everyone having this right, it’s a weapon capable of destroying someone’s image/reputation. To ignore it’s value would just end up in putting even more limits upon free speech for no reason; changes only start when someone speaks their mind, and if no one can speak their mind then the problems are just going to keep on growing. Since it is necessary to protect the value of free speech, it is taken to the next level when it is about making a peaceful society, like the NYTimes articles says, “Judges, lawmakers and scholars continue to struggle with balancing strong speech protections with the necessity of maintaining a peaceful society.”(M. Gonchar, Why Is Freedom of Speech an Important Right?). Even when everyone is entitled to their opinion, some are limited to the value they present, hence why the courts eradicate this right if proven that it is a danger, and if it’s a danger then it means the free speech of that person isn’t of any value. The problem with this, going back to the quote, is how it’s difficult to see an opinion from a perspective they never thought of, but if they still don’t think about it then it’s value won’t be worth much, so it will go against what anyone might stand for. The value of freedom of speech is important for the greater good, and there’s always a reason for it, be it experience or knowledge, its value cannot be undermined no matter what, otherwise we cannot advance any further without the help of different opinions and point of views.

The benefits of having free speech mostly relies on enforcing our ideals, rights, and society itself. As said by J. Timms, “Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. It reinforces all other human rights, allowing society to develop and progress. The ability to express our opinion and speak freely is essential to bring about change in society.”(J. Timms, Why is Free Speech Important?). When it comes to a change in society, it is mainly about how the people in that society will change, to make them come to understand something different, allowing it to become something that can embraced and used to incite the change in society. If humanity kept on doing the same as always, they would’ve never come to grasp the present as it is; In other words, embracing free speech allows humans to keep evolving to achieve the utopia they wish for. Not only does it incite change, but it also helps boost the level of productivity of many systems already in place, just how Insideout sources states, “There is evidence that freedom of expression protections are positively related to increased economic growth, democracy levels, sociopolitical stability, and nonviolent methods of conflict compared to violent methods.” (B. Christensen, Why Freedom of Speech Matters). Boosting these systems not only help society change, but help it improve on foward while giving boosts to a person’s daily life. Even if society changes, if it’s nothing meaningful then at the end the change on society was nothing more than a fluke, even if it only improved the economy, that would already make people’s life even easier depending on how it improves, either just for those on the bottom or those who are in steady ground. The benefits of free speech are too immense for it to be walked over, having the ability to change society as a whole in many different ways, as well as changing the individuals in that society on how they acknowledge the truth they acquire, however good any other right may look, freedom of speech is the most beneficial right everyone has.

“Care about other people’s approval, and you will be a prisoner too. “Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but being hold down by those who dont give the other approval is not an excuse for those looking for a change. Freedom of speech is available to those who will give it value, and deserve the respect as it is a person’s ideals, but if it doesn’t have any value, then it is not worthy of anything, it will just be detrimental. The problem with what others think of it might be the sense of judgement, because no matter how much knowledge or experience one can have, saying which opinions are the valuables is not accurate, as most also have their ideals that they stand for. As harmful stating an opinion out loud may be, the fact that a change may happen is worth the chance of change happening with how many problems this world has. It all starts by stating what someone feels is wrong, one at a time.

References

1. M. Gajanan, “Youtuber Star JonTron Under Fire for Controversial Comments on Race and Immigration”, TIME, March 14, 2017 - https://time.com/4701304/jontron-jon-jafari-steve-bonnell-immigration-race-youtube/
2. H. C. Mansfield, “The Value of Free Speech”, NationalAffairs(NA), Fall 2018 - https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-value-of-free-speech
3. M. Gonchar, “Why is Freedom of Speech an Important right? When, if Ever, can it be limited?”, The New York Times, September 12, 2018 - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/learning/why-is-freedom-of-speech-an-important-right-when-if-ever-can-it-be-limited.html
4. J. Timms, “Why is free speech important?”, Index, April 13, 2016 - https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2016/04/free-speech-important/
5. B. Christensen, “Why Fredom of Speech Matters”, InsideSources, February 12, 2015 - https://www.insidesources.com/freedom-speech-matters/