Blog #3: Eight Values of Free Expression

     Throughout our class times, we have learned a lot about the First Amendment, and where it applies and may not apply in everyday life. Below, I have written about the some of the eight values of free expression, and which ones resonate and apply the most to me. 

    The value that resonates the most with me would be the 'marketplace of idea'. This value was first suggested by Milton, and it basically states that when there is a battle between the truth and a lie, the truth will always come out eventually. I feel like this value resonates with me the most just because I believe this to be one hundred percent true. If someone is telling a story that has one hundred percent truth to it, and someone else tries to say that the story was a lie, there will be evidence somewhere to back up that the person was telling the truth, and the person claiming that it was a lie will be looked at as a liar after that. After that, the person who is telling the truth will always be looked at as a person people can trust, because it was proven they were telling the truth and were not a liar. The person that was found to be a liar will be looked at as untrustworthy after that, because no one will know when they are lying and when they are telling the truth. This value was used by Milton when he argued against requiring a license to print and publish, but it can apply to everyday life as well, so I feel as though the value really resonated with me.

    I believe that the value that is the most important is the 'protect dissent' value. This value protects the minority view no matter how unpopular it may be, through the First Amendment. It establishes a right to be able to agree with and criticize the government. I feel as though this is the most important value because I believe that having the right to disagree with the government should be a given right, even though so many other countries do not protect people who have even a slightly different view from the government. The United States protects this right through our First Amendment (freedom of speech, freedom of religion, etc.). This value is important because it is a given that not everybody is going to have the exact same view as the government, so of course we should have the right to be able to express our disagreement. When we have discussions about our disagreements in a civil manner, it can lead to coming to a common ground and hopefully respecting other people's views no matter how different.

    The value that I see the most in action today would be 'individual self-fulfillment'. This value says that free speech enables people to express themselves and create their own identity, which is an aspect of human dignity, agency, and autonomy. In 2021 more than ever, people have started to express themselves and their identity in whatever way they feel like, no matter what that looks like or feels like. There are many different groups of people and organizations that allow people to express themselves in the exact way that they see fit, which is why I think that this value is the one that is being used in action the most in today's society, especially in the United States. 

https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/commercial-speech-values-free-expression 

By Rebecca Bonilla