Blog Post #3- Eight Values of Free Expression

In the United States of America, we have Eight Values of Free Expression. These eight values are Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent. Each one of these values is extremely important in their own ways. They all have different aspects to why Freedom of Speech is so important, and bring all of the reasons together. While reading through these, I became very interested in the differences of values, and learned how they help our Freedom of Speech come together. A couple specifically stood out to me, and those were Individual Self-Fulfillment, and Protect Dissent.

Individual Self-Fulfillment is important to me because people need free speech in order to be their own person. Everyone has different opinions, and to be able to voice that is what makes each person their own individual. If everyone was forced to say that they believe one thing even if they really did not, everyone would be the same and we would never find what is so special about people. With Freedom of Speech, everyone is able to form their own opinions, and share how they feel. This helps people connect to each other and form special relationships based on similar opinions. I believe that differences in opinion is what makes a good Democracy. People will disagree, and that is okay. People are allowed to speak their thoughts and emotions, and if someone does not agree they have the choice to go their separate ways from that person. When people do agree, they tend to stick together, and form bonds which hold a special place because of similar ways of thinking. I read an article from the University of Virginia, and it stated how usually people do not change their political views, but it does help understand why people think the way they do and why everyone views politics in their own way. Talking to someone and voicing your opinions can make you understand why they believe the way they do. Overcoming political differences is a special situation to me, so Individual Self-Fulfillment especially stood out to me. 

Another Value of Free Expression that I found is important and stuck out to me was Protect Dissent. This is important because even if a person is in a general area where their opinion is very unpopular or they feel like they believe something most people do not, they should still be able to voice their opinion without any consequences. This is a way to open up other understanding to people who believe another way. I think that people holding in what they believe can build up resentment and more violence than if they just speak their mind. No one has to agree with them, but it is important for everyone to understand the reasoning behind peoples opinions. Someone who has a different opinion than everyone around them may get hate for voicing what they believe in, but that is their choice. No one should be forced to keep their mouth shut over something they believe and that is why Protect Dissent is an important value.