Blog Post #3

 Speech Theories

Our Government is not always right or just in the eyes of individual citizens of the United States. They question the policies and criticize the government based on their personal beliefs. Essentially they just disagree with the action the government has taken on.

This is the idea behind the free expression idea called protect dissent. In political theory terms, dissent an unwillingness to cooperate with an established source of authority, which can be social, cultural, or governmental. This concept was expanded upon by Steve Shiffrin in his book Dissent, Injustice and the Meanings of America. 

This is the most important of free expression because it allows people to think freely. Being able to think freely is a promotion for self expression in which the First Amendment protects these rights for the individual. 

Protect Dissent also promotes critical thinking which gets citizens to pay attention to the government and form an opinion that could potentially lead to an idea or concept that will be better for the country at large. Through criticizing the government, opinions begin to flow and discussions happen which lead to decisions that people can potentially agree with.

To me, the most personal free expression is the freedom of individual self-fulfillment. Self-fulfillment in terms of individual rights can be defined as individual realization of character and potential as a human being means the right to form your own beliefs/opinions and the right to express those belief/opinions.

This connects back to the concept of free expression in the free expression of protect dissent. An individual has the right to think and express oneself freely and form their own identity. C. Edwin Baker discussed this concept in his book Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech, where he takes the idea of self-fulfillment and makes the connection that in the practice of self-fulfillment, freedom of speech will become part of an individual. 

This is the most personal to me because of this right or freedom, I am able to express myself how I see myself. I am also able to take the right to self discovery and learn more about myself through different ways that I see fit. And finally, I have the right to speak and debate on many topics that I am interested in and do not have to comment on topics I am not interested in. 

Of the eight different values of free expression the one that most applies to today’s world is the most popular of the free expressions: the marketplace of Ideas.

 

This is the most applicable today because of social media and the many different discussions happening around the country. The fact that everyone has a chance to be heard and to throw their ideas out in the world with social media and the internet is exactly what the marketplace of ideas is referring to.

Now this theory of the marketplace of ideas goes further than just having all of these ideas circulate. The idea behind this theory in context to free speech is that among all the different ideas, opinions, and sayings, the truth will always come out and be recognized because they are the light that shines in contrast to the other ideas that could be considered bad. 

This concept was first introduced by John Milton in his speech Areopagitica.