The Anti Free Speech Movement

Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right. Whether or not on a college campus, people (especially college students) should have the right to speak freely. Everyone does have the right to speak freely, because it is one of the twenty-seven amendments. Colleges all around the United States are now home to many restrictions on free speech. For example, the idea and use of “free speech zones” has made its way to colleges everywhere. A “free speech zone” is a sidewalk sized place where students are allowed to speak their minds freely on college campuses. I know what you’re thinking. This sounds ridiculous. Why are there specific places for people to speak their minds? Aren’t colleges suppose to be a place where students speak their minds and learn new things? Universities should not be able to put any restrictions on free speech.

The nation's leftists, whether in academia or the news media tout themselves as advocates of free speech. Back in 1964, it was Mario Savio a campus leftist who led the Free Speech Movement at the Berkeley campus of the University of California, a movement that without question played a vital role in placing American universities center stage in the flow of political ideas no matter how controversial, unpatriotic and vulgar.

Now take a moment to consider how many people in America would openly declare dislike for freedom of speech. Not many, if not none. Of course freedom of speech is something to be fond of since it enables us with the ability to say whatever we want and having our own opinions without worrying about it. However, everything has limits, and we haven't set limits for this idea, which leads to confusion and controversy. The idea of freedom of speech is often stretched and distorted beyond to be used as an excuse, for example in hurled racial slurs. No matter how racist or hurtful a comment, who ever declared the said

Words can build or break an individual. Growing up I was taught to keep any harmful comments to myself, nevertheless many individuals seem to have no regard of what others think or how their words can harm them. Through words Martin Luther King was able to stand up against segregation. Through words Abraham Lincoln was able to unite the nation after the civil war. Words are a powerful weapon and if used unjustly, it can be the downfall of someone or a nation. We have no right to libel, slander, or harm one another, yet when one does they say they were “voicing their opinions.” It is sad to see individuals “protesting” by breaking businesses windows, trashing the streets, harming police officers and harming other citizens. How is this voicing their opinion? Why shall one trash the streets of our nation, our home, and declare it’s freedom of speech. Like it or not we must understand that police officers and citizens who don’t see our view on things also have the right to voice their opinion. Our nation came together because of our differences; however, we gladly push someone down who doesn’t have the same mindset as

Free speech is the backbone that holds democracy together.  Without a free speech, ideas would not be challenged, governments would not be kept in check, and citizens would not be free.  John Stuart Mill said once that, “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person then he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.”( Roleff, 21). The right to free speech is essential to “egalitarian democracy,”(Tsesis) however, this right is not absolute and must be limited in certain situations.

As an American citizen and a late bloomer to the political arena in the United States, I find myself arriving in an disheartening and frightening environment. Where I have suddenly awoken in a dis-utopian world of money, power and greed, where the rich elites of the population has all the power to speak up. Where money has become more out-spoken and heard than actual dialog, while the majority of the population remains silenced through underfunded attempts to express their views. Giving money the potency of free speech enables only the people with a financial mouth to resonate loud enough to be heard. Presidents, Senators, Legislators and House of Representative members are involved in the process of making policies and laws, who are

To the eyes of many Americans, kneeling while the anthem is being played and the flag is being shown is disrespectful. Blood and sweat has been sacrificed for our flag and for us that live in this beautiful country. These same soldiers fought for a place where we can walk safely, we can speak without fear, and for our Constitution.

only a form individual freedom but it is also a form of freedom from a religious doctrine. If these cartoonists were to not express themselves because they fear they are disrespecting other people’s religion, then they themselves are also giving concessions to the principles of that religion. Thus if one views infringement of liberty by the definitions set through the harm and offense principle, it is clear that the interest of a civil society is to protect freedom of speech not to block or regulate it. The state has a role to protect liberties of all individuals not to define what should and should not be tolerated. Just as it is not the job of the state to institute policy on religion, it is not the states’ responsibility to regulate what freedoms of speech individual may and may not express.

Freedom of speech is one of the foundations that our founding fathers upon to make the great country we live in. Some people think that we need more limitations on this freedom then we already have or completely remove it (“Should Freedom of Speech be Restricted on College Campuses?”), but in reality that is not the truth. The truth is that we need to protect this right because there are people who have died trying to obtain and protect this right and every other right that we have in America, and to destroy it would be a waste of their sacrifice.

In modern day America, the topic of freedom of speech is widely disputed. More specifically in regards to when you are protected by our first amendment. It is extremely important to know what this right entitles as a way to protect yourself, as well as to keep yourself from looking like an idiot. For example, being banned from a social media site, such as Twitter, does not violate the constitution.¹ This is because Twitter is a private organization. This is also why you can be fired from your job if you say something incriminating on the internet.¹ The first amendment does not apply to private organizations. As well as this, you cannot be fined or punished for something such as not standing for the pledge. This is because it “is an act of political

When we protect hate speech and give white nationalists an equal space at the table to share their intrinsically violent beliefs instead of protecting the people who those words and symbols are meant to damage we are implicitly saying that their lives matter less than these words. We should be focused on enforcing laws that protect human life and the promise of equality, and create a space where people feel free and safe to pursue their goals without risk of injury. This is far more important than using the law to protect racists and allow them to normalize their prejudices in the public sphere. As Delgado puts it, “The establishment of a legal norm creates a public conscience and a standard for expected behavior that check overt signs of prejudice,” (149).

People in our society do not really have a say in what goes on in our community. “Unlike our colleagues, they had little trouble distinguishing corporations from human beings, and when they constitutionalized the right to free speech in the First Amendment, it was the free speech of individual Americans that they had in mind (Stevens, 115-116).” Society is manipulated into thinking the way government officials want voters to think. The society being those who work in government jobs are limited in what can be discussed amongst the world. This limit takes away workers and the community freedom of speech.

Simply put, free speech and its integral role in free society is fading, or rather: free society itself is fading. In our homes, we sit in our leather recliners with a can of forget and a bowl of regret, our mouths wide open, our eyes peeled watching our American gods of knowledge and opinion as they place their words into our mouths, into our hearts, and into our brains. And by our gods, we learn of our true identity - our box that our features and characteristics place us in, what we should really be thinking about, and which side of the political "fiesta" that we should be falling for. Likewise, the young adults in American Colleges are being taught standards of socio-ethical appeasement and continuing these “skills” from college into their daily lives: the fabric of American Society, which is a primary factor in the end of the First Amendment right of the American public. The American population is not only controlled (socio-politically) by the desires and politicization in the industries of advertisement and entertainment but also the “corrupted” situation of the American college, which are both extending the dissolution of free speech in the United States.

The United States of America was founded on the principle of freedom, free speech being

I would like to begin with question in this reflective essay. What does America mean to you? While For me personally, America mean Freedom to be creative, rights, higher education, and priorities of job. In another I view America as a fourth of July and well developed country. Also, it’s the land of the opportunity and melting pot country where anyone can come. Americans have more freedom than most other countries around the world. We have many greats thing such as the freedom of speech, freedom to vote, justice, law, and we have opportunity to speak what is in our mind. But Somehow, I value America as a two effective ways which includes many positives and few negative things.