Post 3: Values of Free Expression

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 “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”.

 – Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev.1992)

    
        There are eight values of Free Expressions: marketplace of ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, check on governmental power, promote tolerance, promote innovation, and protect dissent. Among these speech theories, some highlight the relationship between the people and their government while some express how freedom of speech impacts an individual’s intellectual fulfillment. All of them center on the First Amendment; they reflect America's pursuit of “liberty and justice for all”. Here are the two values that I feel most important and most connected with. 

I: Participation in Self-Government

Alexander Meiklejohn, Free Speech and Its Relation to Self-Government

The formula of Democracy is that “governments only get power from the consent of the governed” (Dr. Dean Smith, Lecture). A government forms because people within the society want community and shared values. Therefore, a government’s primary purpose is to serve the people, not to control the people.

        The value of Participating in Self-Government heavily reflects the importance of the First Amendment. Meiklejohn believed that the purpose of the 1st Amendment “is to ensure that voters are free to engage in uninhibited debate and discussion in order to make informed choices about their self-government” (Purvis). Voting for the structure of the government is one of the most direct and effective ways for citizens to get involved with governmental activities. When votes are being collected, there is no race, no background, and no difference. All they contain are the genuine passion for the leadership of the country, the belief that the individual and his or her campaign will lead the society to a better place. Each individual’s voice carries just the same weight, rich or poor, noble or ordinary. It ensures that the citizens are actively monitoring what is going on within the government and engaging in progressing their own society in a way that benefits more generations. 


II: Individual Self-Fulfillment

C. Edwin Baker, Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech

“A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages” (Emerson). This is one of my favorite lines from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance. Human expression is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things that have happened. The freedom of speech established the bridge for communication; it brought the entire human society together from the beginning of our civilization. Because of the freedom to think and express one’s self, man’s society had great philosophers like Plato, Confucius, Kant, Descartes, etc. 

In fact, it is man’s intellectual curiosity and the ability of reasoning that pushed society forward. Because of the freedom of speech, we were able to take a step further into the universe with Copernicus, understood the beauty of fateful tragedy with Shakespeare, communicated the meaning of the American Dream with F. Scott Fitzgerald, and much more. Every time the words of reasoning come out, it is the crystallization of wisdom. And only in the face of wisdom, do human pride and prejudice appears small and pale. That’s why mankind kept on seeking truth and a fuller definition of self one after another through expressing and communicating. 


Sources:

http://medlawlit.blogspot.com/

https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1302/alexander-meiklejohn#:~:text=Meiklejohn%20said%20self%2Dgovernance%20is,that%20justifies%20freedom%20of%20speech.&text=The%20value%20in%20free%20speech,that%20it%20produces%20informed%20voters.

https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/selfreliance.html


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