Blog #3

 Eight Values of Freedom

One of the Eight Values of Freedom that piqued my interest the most was to Promote Tolerance.  In a sense this means that there are little regulations on what we can and can not say.  However even with these little regulations society is trained to regulate speech.  It doesn't seem like this would be the case, because how could society as a whole regulate something that the law doesn't.  Lee Bollinger wrote about this value and opened my eyes to another reason for using speech, which is "...the object is not to express a point of view but to disrupt other interests, such as peace and quiet, or to challenge and provoke an audience to a violent confrontation" (Bollinger).   He considered words with this intention as social fighting, which to me seems like a legitimate reason for the government having control over that aspect of speech.  Yet, I understand why speech can't be censored, because if one aspect of speech was censored, I feel that once one aspect of speech is censored, what controls the government from not taking away more.  I think that this kind of speech can not be censored, because if it was I feel that as a society we would not care as much or focus on the impact of using speech that is hurtful and it simply would alter our character.  I find that it is better to not have the government involved, because people are able to express what is acceptable or not and why, which in turn helps people understand right and wrong better.  I feel that if the government was telling us what to say it would lead to rebellion, even if people knew this speech was wrong, they would turn around and say it anyway.  The government is put on a higher pedestal than everyone else, and many people dislike authority and being told what to do.  Therefore allowing this speech to be expressed, even when it is bad, is better than having the government have a say, because people are more likely to stop this speech if people of the same class tell them to do so.  There's more of an understanding amongst people and they are more susceptible to listen to a mass group of individuals around the same status as them.  I think that allowing this speech allows for more educational opportunities and ultimate growth, because if the government just simply banned it, I think that people would either never really understand the reason why certain speech is wrong or they would simply use it as retaliation and hurt others even more as a result.

This value is seen in society when people get called out in person, on social media, and in numerous other fashions when they say something offensive or derogatory.  I think that this is needed, because people need to be called out in order to set an example and establish societal norms.  It is very similar to our structure of government in a sense, because all involved keep an eye on one another and make sure everything is happening properly.  For instance, the Federal government looks down at the State government while the State government looks up at the Federal government.  They do this in order to make sure that they are both following their own procedures and duties and not overstepping.  Then as a safety net it is up to us individuals to make sure that both governments are following the regulations and aren't trying to take too much power away.  For the sake of Freedom of Speech, we take the governments' power away from determining what we can and can not say, in order to make sure that if issues occur they can be vocalized and fixed.  In order to not overcomplicate things and allow chaos to ensue, the government takes a step back and essentially allows speech, even words that hurt, because the individuals play a more effective role in forbidding this type of language.  The government would simply get in the way and the lessons taught would turn into rebellion and more hatred.  It's truly fascinating to me how much power an individual actually holds and I think it is essentially that we as a society hold the power over what is just to say and what isn't.  I feel that it is not talked about enough and that many feel that it is a governmental power, when in reality they keep their hands off of it.  So next time you hear someone say something that you don't approve of, don't forget that it is your duty to say something and educate them on why it's wrong.  It may not seem like you are doing much, but you are, you're adjusting the social norm.