The Eight Values of Free Expression

 I believe all eight of the values of free expression are important but the one I care about most is easily Individual Self-Fulfillment because that is how I live my life. I believe the point of life is to be fulfilled, and I happen to believe that my pursuit of fulfillment in my spiritual and personal life will lead to my happiness. For these reasons, I believe that self-fulfillment is easily the most important of the eight 
values. It is also called self-actualization and is often meant to be the process of unending self-improvement. This idea means constantly working on yourself in all aspects of life and if that isn't the most important freedom I don't know what could be. I think our most important freedoms are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and that's why this is the most important value as it encompasses that saying. 

For the last few months, all I have seen on TV, YouTube, and even Instagram sometimes is political ad campaigns. It's now impossible to watch a football game without seeing at least 12 ads on either side of the aisle as we are so close to the election. With the election permeating into every other aspect of life, we need to look at Participation in Self-Government particularly because everyone needs to have an idea of who they are voting for and why. I myself am guilty of not being well informed enough, but I knew enough to confidently vote in this election. The biggest issue with self-government is that it is not as easy as some of these other values to express, because it requires significant amounts of knowledge to speak on most accurately. Whereas it's easier to explain what makes you happy and how you want to improve in your life. 

During this time however, we also have to pay attention to the value of Protecting Dissent because many people can become hateful during election season, which is unproductive and unnecessary. America has gotten much worse about this over time because we have made it acceptable to hate people for differing views. We can even see this in the two candidates we are voting for this fall, but 50 years ago there was much more respect and discipline even between political rivals. They might have thought the other was the worst person in the entire world but they certainly never voiced it. 

Lastly, we need to Promote Tolerance during an election year because many movements in America promote tolerance and acceptance until you disagree with them. That then makes you a bigot who hates freedom and they try to stop you from expressing your ideas. In trying to advocate for more freedom Americans have reduced freedom of speech because anything you say in 2024 can and will be held against you. I believe that is a very dangerous way for society to function because things could come out of context or somebody could say something they don't really mean. Either way, the important thing is that America needs to remind itself that we are the land of the free and that includes everything a person could possibly say to upset your feelings.