American Freedoms, But Do We Use Them?

 Blog #3

American Freedoms, But Do We Use Them?

First Amendment Values

Without the freedoms given to Americans in the first amendment, democracy cannot be achieved. The freedoms from religion and of religion; of speech and of press; and of assembly and petition allow the American people the ability to voice their opinions of the government. Without the first amendment, the Eight Values of Free Expression would be unable to exist. 

Eight Values of Free Expression-What is Most Important to Me?

I believe one of the most important values of free expression is that of protecting dissent. Protecting the ability of the American people to speak out against their government is essential for the popular values of the electorate to be reflected in how they are being governed (University of Chicago Law School). When the American people are unhappy with the functions of their government, their dissent must be protected for democracy to thrive. Protests and other major forms of dissent along these lines are the American People's most effective way to express their discontent with the United States Government. These displays are the main way the People can express their discontent without directly voting their representative out of office. This helps to give Americans an increase in power during a non-election year, but can also influence others to vote incumbents out of office if they agree with the issues that are being dissented upon. I believe that this is the main way that Americans still participate in their Eight Values of Free Expression. 

Another one of the most important values is the marketplace of ideas. Without the ability of the American people to seek the truth, the government would be able to tell the people whatever they wish and the people would have to take it at face value. The ability to then take these truths and spread them in print among the people allows for the electorate to remain informed and be able to make fully informed decisions in elections. An informed electorate is one of the most important prerequisites for democracy to thrive. 

What Values are Under Utilized?

I believe that the value of participation in self-government is being under utilized by the American people, especially those of my generation. I believe the American public, especially those that are just now coming of voting age, do not keep themselves as well-informed as they should between election cycles. When there is an upcoming election, the public turns their attention to the news and pays attention to the policies being lobbied for, however, I believe between election years, the electorate does not put in effort to remain informed. Young voters are also the largest voting population, however, they have the lowest rate of voter turnout, this is believed to be connected to the fact that the youngest voting population is not well-informed enough nor do they have the political efficacy to understand how to effectively participate in their democracy (Juelich, et. al., 2020). 

Technological Influence

Technology has influenced the eight values of free expression in a multitude of ways. First off, that the electorate has instant access to all news reports. In the age of the internet, we the people have access to all reported information at the simple click of a button (or more accurately, a google search). Not only do the American people have instant access to news at their pleasure, but the news also has further means of communicating stories with the people, and collecting information to report on. 

However, not all technology has a positive impact on the spread of information relevant to the electorate. I believe that social media, while in some regard keeps the younger generation of the electorate further informed, has the potential to do more harm than good in spreading information. On social media anyone can create an account that they use to spread news, however, from accounts that are not trusted news sources, there is nothing to say that these posts and the information they contain is true without doing further research. The only issue with this is that people will oftentimes take what is posted at face value and not do their own further research into the issues. So long that people do research to back up what they are seeing on social media, it can be a great way to inform the younger population of the political issues facing both their country and the world. 

Freedoms, Use Them

Overall, I believe the American people have begun to lose touch with the eight value of free expression. I believe that it is essential for the electorate, especially Americans that are coming of voting age, to reengage with these eight freedoms. These freedoms being used to their fullest advantage is essential to keeping American democracy alive as Generation Z continues to come of age. As a generation that is so large, we will soon have a great amount of power in the democratic system. My generation needs to reconnect with the freedoms for the American governmental system to be able to properly function. As Americans, we are tremendously lucky to live in a country that provides us with the ability to have these freedoms, it is our duty to utilize them in order to participate fully in our democracy and to not allow for these freedoms to go to waste when many others do not have the same ability to change their country as Americans do.