Blog Post #3

American Values of Free Expression

When I was going through what makes up the eight values of American free expression, I came to believe the two that I thought were the most notable are the "Discovery of Truth" and the idea of promoting tolerance.

These concepts, among others, are an essential part of democracy, because they allow people to express themselves and their ideas without fear of being persecuted by the government. In a free society, people can believe whatever they want to, say whatever they want to, without having the government criminalize any speech, including speech and beliefs that are critical of itself.

The concept of "Discovery of Truth" in the context of American free expression is actually quite simple. It states that all ideas should be allowed to freely exist among the population, and people should be able to choose what kinds of ideas they want to accept or reject, and the government cannot tell people what to think or believe in. This concept suggests that if these ideas are allowed to freely exist, the "best" and truest ideas will ultimately be the most prevalent.

Promoting tolerance is also another concept in free expression. It says that we do not need any kind of oppressive laws that punish people via the law just for saying something, because if something is really so bad in the first place then society itself will punish them instead, and it isn't a role the government should be taking. This also has to do with the idea of "subsequent punishment" in which it's only fair to punish someone for something that they've actually done.

Another important concept to me is the idea that "dissident" voices should be protected, no matter what they are or what they believe in. Just because someone's opinion is in the minority and they don't agree with the government or most of society, doesn't mean that it's okay to silence them and they too have every right to freely express their ideas and beliefs.

Finally, there is also the concept of vertical checks. This says that the people themselves should take an active role in limiting and checking the government's power, by petitioning the government for change when they don't agree with its actions.