Eight Views of Free Expression Reflection

 8 Values of Free Expression

I chose number six, promote tolerance, as my speech theory because to me, it is the most important. Since the beginning of any kind of public communication was invented, there has always been instances of people ending up in the news because of something they said. This is important though because it teaches us what is acceptable to say and what is not. 

News article example

The government allows us to do this because of our first amendment right to free speech. If they did not, I feel like people would end up not learning because they would not have any examples to learn from. For example, racial slurs. Nobody knew they were a bad thing to say until it reached the point where almost everyone knew what they meant. Nonetheless, people still say those words all the time and end up getting in trouble for it. 

A good example of that exact scenario would be a makeup Youtuber known as Kathleen Lights. A video of her saying a racial slur was leaked online unexpectedly and people were outraged to the point where they wanted to boycott the nail-polish company she started. She issued an apology shortly after to her community and it all settled down but this is a great example of how we can learn from our right of free speech. 

That just about wraps up my thoughts on promote tolerance so I am going to talk about one that comes second on my priority list.

My second most important value of free expression is number four, individual self-fulfillment. I believe that everyone in all countries not just America should be given their God given right to become whoever they want to be in their own lives. For example, our university President, Dr. Nido Qubein, who has shown the world what one person is capable of, even when they lived in struggle all their life. 

Another reason this hit home is that my family is basically one long line of entrepreneurs. My grandpa created his own exporting/importing business as well as other ventures, my uncle owns a business remodeling company based in Charlotte and is currently expressing this value of free expression by going to France to start a business, and my mom runs a staffing franchise back in my home town. So if our government did not allow us to use our abilities to create new things, our country would be awful.

I mean look at communist or dictator led countries, they look desolate compared to the United States and other democratic countries. 

My top three concludes with number five, checking on governmental power. This is my third most important value because keeping up with everything the government is doing in our country is a key role us citizens must do. If nobody keeps track of what our leaders are doing then they can do whatever they like as long as it does not change a citizen's life noticeably. I know that some aspects are confidential but it is usually just research projects or building new defense weapons that will be released to the public once the study is finished and the weapon is made.