8 Values

Listed below, are the Eight Values of Freedom.  These values of free expression are among the most important models that help protect us and our government, while also allowing us the opportunity to express ourselves.

1. Marketplace of Ideas

2. Participation in self-government

3. Stable Change 

4. Individual Self-Fulfillment

5 Check on Governmental Power

6. Promote Tolerance

7. Promote Innovation 

8. Promote Dissent 

These Eight Values of Freedom all have various and distinct meanings associated to them.

Starting with the Marketplace of Ideas, the meaning behind this revolves around the notion that truth "will emerge from the competition of ideas in free, transparent public discourse and concludes that ideas and ideologies will be selected according to their superiority or inferiority and widespread acceptance among the population." This concept was created by John Milton, an English poet and philosopher known for his work in Areopagitica in 1644. Areopagitica is among the most influential speeches defending the right to freedom of speech and expression. 

Participation in self-government is one of the most important values, as it translates to the belief that when we participate in elections, we are participating in government. As a participant in an election, it is important to make informed decisions based on information that we have gathered from our candidates. 

Stable change is defined as citizens being allowed to speak their minds without repercussions of being charged or fined for the things that they say. 

Individual Self-Fulfillment gives people the freedom to express themselves and allow for them to promote  their own identity.  

Those are just some of the definitions of the eight, but the one that intrigued me the most was "Promote Tolerance". Lee Bollinger argues that the "institution of free speech, established by the First Amendment, functions principally as a kind of didactic ritual: by requiring us to be tolerant of the most abhorrent speech, the First Amendment teaches us to be tolerant throughout political life.:" 

This is significant because there are no limitations on what can or cannot be said and Bollinger dug deep into this topic to find out what kind of regulations that the government could impose on us if they wished to. 

Due to our rights and certain censorship, there is only so much that can be censored. Most people believe that if some types of speech were censored, that would violate the First Amendment rights. 

While reading through an article written by Bollinger, I was intrigued by a piece that he wrote "This enforced toleration teaches us to understand and control the "impulse toward intolerance" that is present in everyone impulse that has its legitimate claims, Bollinger states, but that, if unchecked, can have devastating consequences for society."

Even though this debate of "Tolerance", the views of free speech reach much further than what we think. Free speech is necessary to enlighten democratic self-government because the suppression of information and ideas thwarts the search for truth and impairs a political system's ability to reach the right decisions in a fair and equitable manner.