Free Expression has been treasured in America since its creation. From the point of the birth of The United States the meaning of Free Expression has been valued and defined in eight different ways including: The Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, the Promotion of Tolerance, The Promotion of Innovation, and the Protection of Dissent. The Eight Values of Free Expression lay out the importance and role of the Right of Free Expression.
The Marketplace of Ideas is the idea that all ideas, even true and false, should roam freely on the same platform because truth will always win in the end. Plato and Socrates said that man is inherently good and that if left to their own devices good will come out of it. Similarly John Milton felt that man is drawn to truth and will prefer it over lies. Giving everyone the ability to publish what they want comes from this idea. The First Amendment right to the freedom of the press Is often looked over compared to freedom of speech but we cannot forget that it is a Fundamental Personal Right that is a key to freely expressing yourself.
Promoting Tolerance and Innovation coupled with Protecting Dissent creates a respectful area for the Marketplace of Ideas. Although I believe that you can never have a true marketplace of Ideas. A pure marketplace would mean everyone is tolerant of everyone's ideas and supports innovation all while valuing dissenting opinions. This is impossible in today's world where everyone has emotions, political and religious beliefs, and quite frankly everyone's a little too selfish. Just because some people do not choose the good when presented with every idea, some people choose what serves them best, makes the most money, or hurts their enemies. I believe man is good but it only takes a few bad men to ruin it for a lot of people.
Oftentimes people are silenced or censored. There are plenty of people in Russia that do not want a nuclear war on Ukraine and The U.S., but they cannot speak out. Stable Change allows for a window for people to vent. Eventually if people cannot vent their frustration with words, protests, and democracy, it will turn to violence, revolution, and the overthrowing of governments. This idea that people need to vent is a key part of Participation in Self-Government. People are angry when they do not have control over their lives. People not only need to have representation in government but also use it. According to census.gov only 68.8% of Americans vote.
It doesn’t take a 0% voter turnout to have tyranny. The Check on Governmental Power requires the governed to do something. The Declaration of Independence says “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” It is dangerous to have the faith that the government if left to its own devices will find the same truth or goodness the public would.
Individual Self-Fulfillment lets us decide for ourselves. What we think and believe allows us to use our own agency to choose. As we as society choose to think for ourselves we can truly get to the good truth that Milton, Socrates, and Plato were talking about.
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