Eight Values of Free Expression

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Introduction

The freedom of speech and expression are among the simplest of rights we have as Americans. Yet they are also among the most important. It's something we have become so accustom to that we rarely think about what it's like to not have these rights. And the rare times when we do not have these freedoms, it instantly upsets us.

Think about a time someone told you that you were not allowed to say something you believed in. Or a time when you had to change out of clothes you liked because they did not follow the dress code, or were deemed "inappropriate." Now more likely than not those times were not actually a violation of your freedoms, unless it was the government saying those things. But either way it stung the same. It just feels bad to not be able to speak or express ourselves how we want to.

So why is this? Why does it feel bad to not be able to express ourselves? Why is this freedom one that we as Americans value so much? That brings us to the eight values of free expression. These values are the reasons that we value our freedom of expression so much, and furthermore these values must be upheld by the government in order to truly have free expression.

Values I Resonate With

For me personally, value number seven, promote innovation, is the one I resonate the most with. I consider myself to be a creative person, and I strongly believe that everyone should share their ideas, not matter how wacky they might be. Part of working well in a team is being able to express ideas you may think are bad, and bouncing them off your team members to create better ideas.

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Another value I strongly resonate with is number four, individual self-fulfillment. Something that's always seemed so awful to me is school uniforms. I've never been in a school that's had a uniform, but the idea of it always rubbed me the wrong way. Walking into a room and seeing everyone dressed in the same exact clothing, it's like a dystopian society where no one is allowed to have an identity. 

As humans, our differences are what make us special. And the way people choose to express their individuality is part of what makes those differences special. It's why we find some people so interesting. A society where people are not allowed to express their individuality sounds bland and dull to me, so it's a freedom I greatly value.

Conclusion

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We've become so used to the freedom of expression that we forget that it has not existed for most of our species existence. Freedom of speech is a relatively new idea, and at the time it was considered very radical. Even today it is still a contested issue.

For example: Whenever a new rule or guideline for social media is put in place, the first thing that happens is a wave of outrage from the userbase. They do not like being told what they can and cannot say. For the website twitter, this was a highly debated issue for years, to the point where Elon Musk decided to take the matter into his own hands and straight up buy the website in an attempt to promote free speech on the platform.

Now technically none of what happened actually violated freedom of speech, since it was perpetrated by the private company twitter, not the government. But it shows how outraged people will become when this right is taken away from them, and what lengths people are willing to go to to protect it. Even if it's rashly investing billions in an unprofitable social media platform.