Blog 3

Eight Values of Free Expression

When considering the eight values of free expression, I find that number seven, which promotes innovation, resonates with me the most. This value is closely tied to the number one value of the marketplace of ideas, which both emphasize the importance of expressing oneself uniquely. The idea behind the marketplace of ideas and the promotion of innovation is that people have a wealth of creativity that should be shared with others. I am reminded of this daily, as we need never to know what others are talking about without the freedom to share our ideas. While John Milton argued for the need for a license to publish or print, everyone should have access to the truth, and that it is unfair for the government to control what we write or publish. This is why we have the freedom of speech, which allows for discovering truth. Before this freedom, people were often afraid to express themselves, inhibiting the discovery of truth.

A marketplace of ideas puts everything out there regardless of what others think. There have been countless times when, as a photographer, I would not post a photo because I was afraid people wouldn't see how I saw it from my point of view. I decided to start posting anyway because it is an art to me, and that is what matters. Free speech also comes with fake news and propaganda. As you see in the picture above, you have the truth, but you also have hate speech, theoretical questions, and ignorance because some people believe they have the truth, even when that is not true. Both free speech and you can honestly put anything out there unless it threatens someone in power, and some people will listen. The idea of a marketplace of ideas is that people have a space to share their creativity and collaborate.

Promoting innovation is a very similar topic. It allows you to create exciting new ideas and topics to better society and yourself. I am working in social media. I constantly try to come up with creative and different ideas, and I could not imagine not having that freedom of choice and creativity. Promoting innovation is also about free speech protected by citizens who genuinely want to improve the world. The importance of free expression is often overlooked because today, we would only be able to share ideas about the latest technology, artistic creations, or even scientific discoveries if we had free expression in free speech.
Although promoting innovation and a marketplace of ideas may not be the same values, they go hand-in-hand regarding your freedom of expression and speech. We should value and honor these values and ensure we consistently maintain our freedom of speech or expression because then, we would never honestly know what people are creating in this world and what they have to say. The eight values of free expression are critical to our society today, and I hope we can all stay on one of them as society grows.