Eight Values of Free Expression

 The eight values of free expression illustrate,  in a simpler form, why the first amendment is so important to us, as Americans. One of the ways that the United States is considered "The Land of the Free" is because of this first amendment, which allows its citizens to speak, believe, and exercise practices freely and without issue. This practice is not present in most other nations across the globe, which is mainly because of overpowering governments that do not want to make themselves look weak to their people, so they disallow their people to speak negatively about them. Personally, I think that the first amendment is the most important amendment because we utilize the freedoms given to us everyday by this amendment, but may not even realize it.

In regards to the eight values of free expression, personally, I believe that the second value, illustrated by Alexander Meiklejohn, is the most important value. In summary, this value implies that the nation needs an electorate involved in future debates. This is, not only because I have experienced this occurring in the real world, but because I have witnessed it affect the real world. In regards to the most recent American presidential election, I have experienced a situation where citizens will only vote for the candidates that best follow their political beliefs, not the beliefs of the rest of the nation. Because of our national economic structure, there are more citizens that rest in or near the middle-lower class, meaning that they are more likely to vote for the Democratic party, which best fits their beliefs. Despite this affecting the nation in so many other negative ways, these citizens usually do not see the whole picture, including that happens two or three years after the election. However, I feel that the value of free expression illustrated by Vince Blasi serves as the most important value because it enables the press to learn more about power abuse and recognize when it is happening in the government. The nation's check-and-balance system is the system that allows citizens to retrain government power and abuse of said power. This system gives the press and citizens a sense of power that they have a voice in what happens in the government. Without the checks-and-balances system in place, citizens would have a sense that they cannot change the government to help the rest of the American people, which would eventually lead to an increase in riots and other forms of violence.

Many forms of social media, including my most used, Snapchat, demonstrates the value of free expression presented by Jack Balkin in a way that it utilizes the first amendment to promote tolerance in the nation's society. For example, I recently saw an article on Snapchat that had to do with how Americans have evolved from segregation in the last several generations. This topic might be sensitive to some people, but I think that is the point of this article. Sensitive topics like this one enable citizens to become more tolerant towards these sensitive topics and accept how far we have come, creating an increase in patriarchy in the nation.