Key Post #1

    Freedom of Speech is an important part of our lives as Americans that I think gets overlooked or even forgotten about at times. I don’t mean that it is completely forgotten about because everyone knows that we have it, but I feel like it is almost an afterthought in a lot of people’s minds. It’s important to understand the things that have happened and the sacrifices made to give us this freedom. 

    One of the Values of Free Expression that I really like to think about is the Marketplace of Ideas by John Milton. This basically means that when the truth is put up against lies, truth will always win and if there is a struggle for it, the truth becomes even stronger. Milton suggested this because he opposed the idea that you would need to have a license to print and publish.

    In theory, having a requirement to have a license in order to publish an article or book would cut down on the fake news or lies told to the public but I think this would have the exact opposite effect. Many questions arise such as how many licenses can be given out, who can get these licenses, and what are the qualifications to get one? This practice would censor most of the American people and leave them without a voice to express their own ideas and opinions. Even if someones ideas are not right or inaccurate, they need to be given the opportunity to express themselves under the First Amendment. 

    What would our lives be like if we could not freely voice our ideas or opinions today? I would probably not even be able to write this blog if I did not have the proper license. We would be limited to the point of view of the select few who were deemed worthy to feed us the information that they wanted us to hear. Whoever was in charge of giving out the licenses would have full control of all media and we would live under the conditions of China or Soviet Russia. These are not the ideas that The United States was founded on and as a citizen, I am glad that John Milton spoke out against these ideas.

    These are the things that I think are forgotten about when people think of the First Amendment. These are the things that I think some people take for granted when they live their everyday lives. These are the things that make The United States what it is today.