8 Values of Free Expression

8 Values of Free Expression

One of the main things our country prides themselves on is free expression. We are gifted freedom from religion, of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition by the First Amendment. The eight values of free expression directly correlate with our first amendment rights. 

After reviewing the eight values of free expression, the one that resonates with me the most is individual self-fulfillment or self-actualization which means, "Free speech enables individuals to express themselves and thereby create their own identity..." This one resonates with me the most because identity is something I have always struggled with. I rarely had a sense of individuality when I was younger; due to having older sisters I would follow their interests, what toys they played with, hobbies they had, etc. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing but I realized when I got older that I needed to become my own person, have my own interests and hobbies, and create who I am supposed to be. 

A big help in finding my identity was through the power of words. I was always the shy kid, I never spoke my mind in fear of rejection or isolation, but as a got older I realized that I wanted to be heard and that my opinions deserved to be thought about amongst my peers. Freedom of speech through writing is something that helped shape who I am as well. I would constantly write down everything from my emotions, stories I made up in my head, and any thought I had. Because of my freedom of speech, verbal and written, I have found myself as a person, and I am grateful for who I am.

Out of the eight values of free expression I believe the most important ones are, individual self-fulfillment and check on governmental power are the most important ones. As I said before individual self-fulfillment helps us express ourselves through our freedom of speech. 

Check on governmental power is also incredibly important because we tend to forget that we the people are allowed to speak out and get our government in line. Although there is not much we can do, journalists take this responsibility and are advocates for us people. Journalists are the ones to ask those hard hitting questions in the White House press pools, they are the ones who air out government officials dirty laundry in order to inform the public of what our government is doing behind closed doors. This is one of the most important values of free expression because it not only allows us to speak out but it allows us to humanize the people in higher powers.

The main one I see taking action today is Participation in Self-Government. In todays world everyone's view points are very black and white, a lot of people don't care to educate themselves with their opposing political parties views and this can greatly effect us as a nation. People pick one political party and vote for the same one every time without educating themselves on who the other person running is. I believe that we need to take deep dives into all political candidates in order to discover which candidate our views align with the most. The biggest mistake is that people do not educate themselves before voting, and we need to start doing so.