Freedom of Speech

I have choose to do my essay on Freedom of Speech because it is one of the most important rights given to the people that, in a way, holds our nation together. Freedom of speech is also a very controversial right. Although you can publicly say things at a meeting or such, you cannot say certain things, like racial or sexist statements. For that fact, freedom of speech is limited in a way because you are not free to say anything you want. Drawing that line of dangerous and harmless speech is, or can be, extremely difficult.

Freedom of speech is the right to speak out publicly or privately. Freedom of speech is used through physical speaking, TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, ect… In a democracy, freedom of speech is almost a necessity. Our constitution guarantees us the right to freedom of speech so we can express our opinions freely. Unlike undemocratic nations, the US believes that the people must communicate with the governments and the governments must stay in contact with the people… because a democracy is government of, by, and for the people. Undemocratic nations believe that freedom of speech creates disorder and that the governments', "know best," and decide without any of the citizen's opinions, the rules and laws they must follow. Democratic nations believe almost the opposite of this theory. They believe that the laws should include all the people of that particular county and that the country should participate as a whole.

Although the fact that the leaders and lawmakers of a country are sometimes more aware of the needs of the people, the people themselves, to me, should decide what laws they are going to have. They should have a say at anything the government plans to do that will make their lives different. Unlike undemocratic nations, I believe in a democracy and think that freedom of speech is a key that should be preserved and never taken away. Without freedom of speech in a democracy, things wouldn't work in order. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a major leader in the civil rights movement. He created such an impact on people through his powerful speeches and even stronger soul. Without his speeches, (like the most famous Dream speech) the civil rights movement might have never came to surface. These public speeches or Dr. King were made possible with the freedom of speech right.

As with anything, there are limitations on freedom or speech. Such limitations are taking the right to harm a persons reputation; not being able to use obscenities; prohibiting speech that endangers one life, property, and/or national security; and annoyance of speech (such as limiting the amount of a loudspeaker addressing a public road). Ironically, without these limitations freedom of speech would get out of control. People would say things offensive to others and things would get hectic. It is hard to stress the fact of how important freedom of speech is to our nation, and it is even harder to imagine what the US, and all other counties, would be like without the freedom of speech. The world would be a whole different place.