Free Speech – The Basis of Democracy
Free speech is excessively individualistic.
Free speech must be balanced against equity.
Those are some of the arguments we hear from those who are against it.
Last week’s blog addressed the vernacular of many in academia, government and media that individualism is passé, and that groupthink and identity are ‘in’ – the wave of the future.
The example cited below is taken from a high school graduation speech given last spring by Falls Church, VA School District Board member Abrar Omeish.
“You understand that social justice is only political for those that can afford to ignore it. You understand that ‘neutral’ is another word for complicit. And you have made a choice to take a stand.”
She encouraged the students to remain activists and pursue “jihad” because “we struggle with human greed, racism, extreme versions of individualism and capitalism, white supremacy, growing wealth gaps, disease, climate crisis, extreme poverty amidst luxury and waste right next door. And the list goes on.”
The point of the example is it is just that – it’s an example. It’s not an isolated way of thinking. It’s a part of the curriculum in many of our schools, secondary and beyond.
But you might ask, isn’t the example cited an actual expression of free speech?
In a way, the answer to that is yes. But the idea that extends from it is to put a negative label on anything the writer or speaker doesn’t like. And when that is supported by our ‘supposed’ free press, a part of our free speech freedom, it amounts to censorship – the opposite of free speech.
The point is the example could be considered free speech if the various labels given to specific groups of others were not obvious attempts at shutting down their free speech. Censors want it to work one-way.
Free speech is one of the basics of our democratic republic. Without it the United States of America looks like many other countries where speech and even thought are attempted to be controlled by the government.
It goes back to the Constitution where the individual is free to legally say, do and act as they choose.
There are many examples of shackling free speech, but perhaps the most glaring and obvious to the average person is the recent COVID pandemic.
Our government told us it was following “the science.” The unprecedented shutdown of friends and family get-togethers, of religion/church services, of the schools and universities, of not visiting our shut-in loved ones, has no precedent. Not only those things, but we were told the only solution was isolation and vaccines. When it became available, vaccines were required to travel and move around in the supposed process of controlling the spread of the virus. In addition, many lost their jobs as a result, including many in the U.S. military.
“Real” scientists with other ideas were silenced by the press, by social media, by leaders in government and collusive private communications. It became clear early on that the elderly and immune-compromised folks were at the most risk and that others were in little danger of death. In retrospect it should be a warning to all of us to never allow that to happen again. When we stop and think about it, we witnessed what many communist and dictatorships do to effectively to control their citizens. Just control what people are told and ‘cancel’ what they would otherwise be exposed to in America we once knew. Its why we have Voice of America broadcasting in some foreign countries, including North Korea. Maybe we need it here as well.
I recently came across the vaccination(s) proof piece of paper I was issued when injected – and would have had to show if I had wanted to fly, for example, during the COVID fiasco. Initially we got caught up in the one-sided government approved propaganda which had the effect of genuinely silencing dissent. People were sentenced to prison for disobeying the national and local edicts.
Perhaps the biggest recent stroke for free speech was Elon Musk buying Twitter – now named X. In doing so, he uncovered the compliance by the corporate leadership of social media which had long been denied by government leaders. He uncovered the fact that social media cancelled all legitimate arguments being made against government edicts to strip Americans of their freedoms, starting with free speech. It demonstrates how government propaganda, misinformation and outright lies can strip the population of their ‘unalienable’ rights – particularly when echoed and supported by the media.
It starts with free speech – that’s how important it is.
So the next time you hear some supposed official tell you it’s OK to say “this” but not “that,” vote the power freak out of office.
The quote “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” was coined by writer Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her Voltaire biography. The quote emphasizes the importance of free speech and open discourse.
It still works for America.
**************************
Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
https://jonathanturley.org/2021/06/14/174458/
