The Value of Free Speech

“If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

George Washington

Those words of wisdom, from one of the greatest Americans who ever lived, expresses the true and fundamental value of free speech in a truly free society.  Without it, liberty cannot survive.  

With this truth, the founders of the United States of America created a nation among the freest in the world: one where you could not only believe what you want, but could say what you want, without fear of retribution.  Unlike other nations in the world, you could even criticize the government without the risk being imprisoned, or even executed. 

Our founders understood that freedom of speech was critical, but tragically, many people today have lost their grasp on what freedom of speech means or have abandoned it entirely in favor of suppression and censorship. 

European nations have taken massive steps to restrict speech, creating vague so-called “hate speech” laws and not protecting the rights of people to express opinions that certain people deem “offensive.”  And America is beginning to embrace those ideas.  Americans are beginning to abandon what has made America such a beacon of hope and light and the world. 

Why America is departing from free speech

Why is that?  Why is America going from the nation that has held so long to letting others express themselves freely, whether you disagree with them or not, to movements that go so far as to outlaw speech that is merely deemed “offensive?” 

In part, this is because we have forgotten what has made America great.  Americans have forgotten what freedom of speech is.  Americans seem to have even forgotten what tyranny is.  To fix this, we need to remember 3 critical things: what freedom of speech is, how essential it is to society, and what happens when it is restricted.

What is freedom of speech?

Today, the definition of this term has been blurred.  People at one moment may defend the burning of the American flag based on free speech, while at other times demanding that certain opinions that they don’t like to be made illegal.

Others, more commonly, try to put definitions on what are “harmful” opinions.  Regardless of how they seek to define “harmful” speech, it all means the same thing: certain opinions or speech do not deserve to be protected and should be regulated and outlawed. 

This negates the entire meaning of free speech.  Free speech does not only include speech you like or agree with.  It also includes speech that you hate and speech you believe is false. 

Author Salmon Rushdie put it this way:

“Its no trick to support the free speech of somebody you agree with or to whose opinion you are indifferent.  The defense of free speech begins at the point when people say something you can’t stand.  If you can’t defend their right to say it, then you don’t believe in free speech.”

He is right.  Freedom of speech means that even when something you don’t like is said, their right to say it is protected.  While it is wrong and illegal to verbally incite violence on someone, when anyone gets the authority to determine what opinions are allowed and which are not, the inevitable consequence is tyranny.

Why is free speech essential for a free society?

Knowing that freedom of speech includes speech that is disliked, we must remember why free speech is essential for a free society.  Before America became its own nation, speech was very risky.  In most countries, if you spoke against the government, you had a strong chance of being arrested or killed. 

What you could believe and what you could say was defined by the government.  The United States flipped the common system on its head.  While it wasn’t always applied consistently, the United States Constitution allowed open opinions and speech at a level mostly unheard of before. 

This is one foundational reason why the United States is so special.  Ideas could flow freely.  This fueled societal growth exponentially.  People could express themselves without fear of the government punishing them. 

This kind of free speech creates a level of liberty unique in many parts of the world still today.  This right protects other rights. 

If disliked speech is not protected, then no speech is truly protected.  People will often say that if speech laws are not made, then people will be able to speak lies, or offend people.  This is true.  But the alternative is so much worse.

What happens when free speech is restricted?

We need to remember what happens when the right to free speech is restricted.  When a government cracks down on certain opinions, the result is always tyranny. 

Think of nations pre-United States, where there were laws banning speaking against the government.  Modern communist countries take it further, where censorship is everywhere, and only approved speech and ideas are allowed.  All result in suppression and trampled rights. 

People in western counties often like to think they are far past such “primitive” systems, but in reality, we are not.  More and more people are calling for speech laws, determining what may be taught or spoken. 

In some places, including America, governments have ordered churches to submit sermons for review to make sure they are teaching “acceptable” things.  In Europe, people have been told by their courts that saying a man cannot turn into a woman is not a protected right.  Today especially, there are those who call for mass censorship. 

For those who know history, these crackdowns should look familiar.  When someone gets to choose which opinions are allowed and which are not, rights are trampled.  Yes, free speech means falsehoods will be told, and yes, people will get offended. 

But that is liberty.  Only by defending others’ rights to disagree with you can your right to disagree with them be preserved.  The alternative is giving someone the authority to ban speech they disagree with.  And that is the end of liberty.

But there is hope!

By remembering these foundational truths, people can return to defending our rights as Americans.  Defending freedom and getting others to defend it as well is difficult. 

As Thomas Paine said,

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” 

But it is worth it.  And it can be done.  By remembering the fundamental truths that bind America together, there is hope.  Remembering what freedom of speech is, how essential it is to society, and what happens when it is restricted, is a huge step in defending our freedom. 

So, what will it be?  Will Americans stand aside, intimidated by those who want to silence them, and be led like sheep to the slaughter?  Or will they make their voices heard? 

Ronald Reagan once said that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” 

Let’s defend our rights that we have so often taken for granted, so that our generation may not be the last to enjoy them. Let’s preserve the torch of freedom.