The Values of Free Expression

Free speech
cannot be blocked by the government.

Free expression is a core value of American democracy, but there can be no free expression if the government decides to silence it. Fortunately, there are checks on the government's powers so that we do not have to live in a world like the one George Orwell described in his novel, 1984.

Before our Constitution had even been ratified, the importance of checks on government powers was well known. In Federalist No. 51 James Madison writes that, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition." 

The different branches of government would inevitably grow to hunger for more power. Their own ambition is exactly what stops them from gaining absolute power. 

Those checks are important because they keep our rights to free expression safe. The government cannot take away our rights. In fact, the government is required to protect them.

John Locke, a political philosopher wrote in his Second Treatise of Government that power is lent to the government by the people. The conditions? Citizens' basic rights MUST be preserved. 

If the people's basic rights are violated, power returns to the masses to either fix or dismantle the issue. Locke's ideas were the foundation of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson took inspiration from Locke when he wrote that all people have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The protection of these God-given rights is the main objective of our government.

While internal constitutional checks on government power help protect our rights to free expression, free expression itself actually functions as a check on government power. After all, what happens when the government acts in secret? What can we do when its internal checks do not work?

Free press and free expression are critical because they serve as the frontline defense – an external check and balance. Vincent Blasi writes in The Checking Value in First Amendment Theory that the primary purpose of free speech lies in its checking value.

The government poses a dangerous threat because it has a monopoly on law and imprisonment. This means that if an individual or a corporation abuses power, then the government can step in. But what holds the state accountable when it abuses power?

An informed citizenry.

Petitions, lawful protest, investigative journalism – all of these and more function as a sort of fourth branch of government that keeps the state honest. Our ability to have free expression truly is what protects our free expression.

Public whistleblowing has dragged corruption in the government into the light before with events such as Watergate, and it shall continue to do so. When we as a citizenry know the actions of the government that WE give power to, we can protect our own rights. 

Without free expression, Locke's promise of self governance falls apart, Jefferson's ideas of our inalienable rights disappear, and we lose what makes America great: liberty.

Free expression at its very core is not just about personal opinion or artistic debate. It is our greatest defense against tyrannical power. Whether you believe the President has overstepped or the government needs to help us more, we should all be able to agree that the U.S. has no king.

Our rights are protected. We do not have free press and free speech just to entertain ourselves to death. No, we maintain our freedom of expression so that when the government overreaches, we have the knowledge and voice to push back.