6. Promote Tolerance — see Lee Bollinger, The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech
It has been argued that freedom of speech, especially through our practice of extending protection to speech that we find hateful or personally upsetting, teaches us to become more tolerant in other aspects of life — and that a more tolerant society is a better society. Somewhat counter-intuitive, the First Amendment protects hate speech because society learns valuable lessons from, including why it is hateful and worthy of condemnation. It’s how we spread norms about acceptable behavior.
I truly believe that the Promote Tolerance value of Free Expression resonates with me the most. Freedom of speech is such a powerful and important amendment that I stand by. I think it is so crucial for an individual to speak their truth and mind when it feels necessary. Sometimes words can be found hateful and upsetting which can teach us to be more tolerant in life. There have been times when I’ve been hurt by words and it has impacted my self-esteem and how I think about myself. However, this has challenged me to be tolerant in other aspects of my life. It allowed me to accept being focused and more sympathetic to everything else that is going on in my life. Allows us to focus on other things going on. Being tolerant eliminates one's self-inflicted barriers and allows one to think more widely and enjoy inner peace. Having this sense of tolerance can lead to less stress and greater happiness in the community. A theory like this can help explain something going on in real life because words of hate can lead to growth or importance in oneself. Take social media, for example, it allows freedom of speech to be expressed anonymously online every day. These words expressed can be good and positive or usually hateful. This can teach us to be open-minded and allows us to be more tolerant in life.
4. Individual Self-Fulfilment ( aka Self-Actualization) — see C. Edwin Baker, Human Liberty, and Freedom of Speech
Free speech enables individuals to express themselves and thereby create their own identity — and, in the process perhaps, find kindred spirits. Freedom of speech thus becomes an aspect of human dignity, human agency, and autonomy.
I found the fourth expression of individual self-fulfillment to be very relatable to myself and others around me. Going back on freedom of speech and how important our words can be. How we speak plays a big role in how others think of us by how we act, talk to and with others, and the tone of our voice. Speaking freely becomes a part of believing in one's worth. I resonate with this expression because I do think it's so important to have self-awareness and self-respect. Speaking freely about one's beliefs and seeking fulfillment through words. I think freedom of speech is one of the most important amendments that we have because of how valuable our words can be. Going back to social media, I think the expression of speech and self-fulfillment can relate to social media and what people are putting out there. Online people can speak how they want for their own pleasure and typically do it anonymously with ease. However, sometimes there's too much freedom where words can hurt others. There are some cases words of affirmation and kindness are spread online but in others, words of hatred and greed can be spread uncontrollably. How you speak to someone can completely affect one's impression of you in either a good or bad way. I think having the honor to speak freely is a gift that shouldn't be taken for granted.
Above is a brief interview on why it is so important that we are able to speak freely under the First Amendment.
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