*The Value of Free Expression #3

In our society today, there is animosity over the right to speak out openly and freely in public. Many of these debates are filled with frustrations, concerns, outrage, and the demand for justice over acts deemed unjustifiable. In today's post, we will talk about free expression and why it is so important, especially in today's society. 

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic set off a surge of events that left humanity feeling isolated and fearful of the future. All over the world, suicide rates increased, looting became prevalent on the news, and many were feeling the weight of impending doom! There was outrage around the world over the lack of simple, clear communication and honesty. It is never fun to feel like the punchline to a joke, and that's what 2020 felt like to so many. 

How did this involve free expression? Well, during this time, because we were held captive in comfy beds, we were drawn to places where we could find human interaction; for most, that was social media. Through social media, you can feel connected to other people without even having to be near them, one of the plus sides of social media. We get to see individual self-fulfillment through social media platforms.

Consequently, when you have good, there must be bad. We began to see division between people on what they believed. Everyone has the right to believe something. This is a value of expression called Protect Dissent. You have the right to have an opinion and question anything, no matter how big or small. And we are lucky to have the right to voice that. 

Now, let's go back to the beginning of the pandemic. We began to see data that did not make sense involving Covid cases. Unfortunately, many people lost their lives. It is also unfortunate that the government lied to us. It took many years for the facts about doctors being forced to support failing data, and if they did not comply, they would receive harsh punishment, even being labeled as criminals. This takes away a value of speech known as the check on governmental power. It also takes away protect dissent. This is where we can question everything, even the government. As you can see, this freedom being taken away leads to lies being spread and false hope being given. Not only were they being forced to give the vaccine, but if you complained or refused, you were fired. This is what inevitably led to a doctor suing Pfizer. 

Just in the past few days, President Trump signed an executive order to abolish the right to birthright citizenship. This has caused outrage among people who believe that this is unconstitutional. Speaking out is an example of protect dissent and stable change. We should speak out about the government doing things we do not believe in. In fact, it is our right to do so not only through the Constitution but also through our value of checking on government power. 

Throughout this post, you can tell that I have mentioned protect dissent many times. This is due to the fact that I believe it is the most important value. If we do not utilize protect dissent, then the other values become nonexistent. Protect dissent gives us the privilege to be able to question everyone, including our government. Even in a court of law, you can question and debate your views. Without this value, I would not be able to continue in the professional degree I hope to achieve. I would not be able to have access to social media platforms. Something that, in turn, would not give me individual self-fulfillment. 

Throughout this blog, I hope to have enlightened you about the values of expression, and hopefully, you can analyze your own values of expression!

*The Founding Era and the Ideals of America #2

As an American, it is important to understand your government. This can be hard to do sometimes. There are lots of branches and many changes that happen; it's so hard to keep up! In this post today, though, I will be breaking down some super important things about the one branch of our government that we see today, the Supreme Court, and our history! 

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. It ensures that our government is run the way it was intended and everyone is protected to be free from overbearing rules. 

The year is 1776, with wide possibilities. Through the Revolutionary War, we were no longer bound to England and its beliefs. America could write our own rules now. This is a time for freedom to be brought forward, but we cannot do that without the birth of the Declaration of Independence. During this time, each state got to write its own Constitution and Bill of Rights. I never knew this and thought this was an interesting historical fact. Now I have something else to add to my cool random facts file!

Years later, in 1783, the dreaded Revolutionary War was over, and America won! Yay! The Treaty of Paris was signed, which made America completely independent from the English grasp. Not so yay was the fact that any war causes debt, which means America started off in debt. 

With the government in debt and the country being in disarray, there was a failed attempt at the Constitution, known as the Articles of Confederation. This would later be revised and become known as the Constitution that we have today. 

 A special form of government was made, which is the Supreme Court. This court ensured that people in America had rights that were protected and enacted by the government. With no freedoms in England, we decided as a country to protect certain freedoms for everyone. 

You may be asking yourself why this is important. I know I did. This is important because we see our first set of new governments. The Constitution was made to establish our government and how our government is run.

Unfortunately, in 1801, the Supreme Court was weak, which meant that change had to occur. The change that occurred was that John Marshall reluctantly became the chief justice. This changed our path with the future of our government forever. 

John Marshall 

Now, with this small history lesson I have given you, I think it is important to discuss why all of this history impacts us today. The most important thing about the Supreme Court is its ability to protect our rights and freedoms. Many of the rights written in 1776 still hold power to this day. Surprisingly, in history, we see Americans agree on one thing: we don't want to be told how to live. The power of the people to stand against England for our values is what brought the most change. I love to see in our history people standing together against something. My thoughts about the Supreme Court were not many. I had some knowledge of the Supreme Court, but I was never really educated on its history. I think my view has changed through this by seeing the struggle America went through to establish itself.

After a lot of debate and a somewhat negative outlook on who the Supreme Court was and what they did, I think I am more positive now and understand that the Supreme Court tries to protect us more than harm us; it's easier to understand some crazy rules that they make. The rules were written at a time when many things we have were not prominent or known to them. The Supreme Court does its best with the material it has. They are trying to apply a constitution in a time that is not current with today's way of life. The Supreme Court has to rearrange in some ways, but in others, many of our founding principles have still stood the test of time. 

Current Supreme Court Justices 

As we can see today, the government still tries to push the boundaries. With the recent TikTok ban discussion, we see that the government still tries to enact policies that do not make sense. Throughout this entire discussion, we have seen our government firsthand fail at multiple things. Watching the videos of the discussions that were had, they have failed to enact diversity, inclusion, and representation. Trying to silence the voice of many American users directly goes against the First Amendment. Something our forefathers fought for us to have. 

I hope that this post has enlightened you in some ways and has given you new information about something you may not have known. 

*#1 Sources and Such