Eight Values of Freedom Blog

                                                

 

It is through the First Amendment  and the Eight Values of Free Expression coincide with one another. By reading the speech theories, I have come to pick out a few that either resonate with me and that seem the most important. Those that I picked out were the following: stable change, individual self fulfilment, and promoting innovation. 

    To start off, stable change, also known as, safety valve, was value number #3. Out of the three that I think resonated with me the most, I believe that this one is the most important to me. To sum up what it means, it simply states that citizens who are able to speak their mind tend to be more stable then some citizens that first handedly choose violence. I believe that this is most important because I don't think violence is ever an answer,  I do understand that sometimes that can be the only answer. 

                                      

                                     

For example, after George Floyd's murder was on every mainstream platform we see. The Black community was extremely upset. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time that a Black person was killed by a white police officer. However, no matter how many times we have peaceful protests or even have a conversation of the alarming matter nothing seems to really change. I'm not saying that looting and burning police cars are okay yet an appropriate reaction to what happened but I do think that's one of the few things that brought to awareness that - "enough is enough". 

                                             

Secondly, another value of expression that resonated with me was value #4 - individual self fulfilment, also known as, self actualization. To sum up this one best, it means that free speech can and will help an individual form and express their identity. This one was most important to me because I feel as though a lot of people think that their opinions don't matter. It is through having our own opinion that you help form yourself. Just because we have the first amendment that protects freedom of speech, doesn't mean that everything we say can't offend people. After doing some research, I came across this article. This article comes up with the terms of what free speech and hate speech are which really puts things into perspective. 

    Next, my next most important value of expression was #7, promote innovation. A community that protects and understands what goes behind free speech will be a more positive community which promotes creativity. With all thoughts aside of free speech, one thing that I applaud how my parents raised me is by growing me up within a community of diversity. I was always comfortable in sharing my experiences and listening to others. If people understood that everyone has free speech, we would probably be a more understanding society. However, it seems as though most people don't understand that some things shouldn't be said which I think is holding us back as a community.

 Through this blog post, I did a lot of soul searching just understanding which ones were the most personal to me and how I could either apply them to my life or even the world we live in today. I wish I was made aware of the eight values of expression earlier because I feel like I would've made connections into a lot of things but I'm glad I was made aware of it now.