They say that life is all a series of choices. Yeah, there are some options that may seem obvious, but there are those that you might decide to take simply because you believe that you have no other choice. But then, there will always be a choice, even when the powers that be try to force your hand, you get to decide if you go with them or if you stand your ground.
This can be likened to when a gun is pointed at you and then you’re asked to surrender. Even if you’re unarmed, you’d have to make a choice. Yeah, the obvious and smart choice you should make is to surrender because a single bullet from the gun can kill you. However, you can also choose to ignore your attacker and keep your hands down in defiance. It might be a costly defiance, but it will be borne of free will.
So, is infringement of people’s right to free speech a real thing? Or, is this just an issue of “the bigger you get, the more censored your words get to be”? In the world we live in today, something as basic as sharing your opinions on matters can get you arrested. Hell, you can even give a review of a product you paid for and end up in prison simply because the owners of the company didn’t like what you had to say.
Our governments are doing a lot to make sure that people don’t get to say whatever they like. If you so much as call them out on how they’re treating their people, you could become an enemy and they would treat you as such. We’ve seen people go to prison for flimsy reasons, they stay under lock and key for years without ever getting due trial. Even journalists who are supposed to be protected from all this are still suffering from this.
So, is this enough for us to give up on our fundamental human rights? Is it okay that we can ignore it all just because some men in positions of power tell us to? Are we not choosing to give them that much power over our lives? Is it not up to us to determine that their tactics against us no longer fear us? If we keep being scared of how hard they can hit us, we will never be able to speak up against them.
When you look at it, many of us still have our tongues, many of us still have social media accounts and we can still make posts. Yeah, censorship is a big thing now, but there are so many ways that this could be circumvented. Should we become a country where people say whatever they want regardless of the consequences because what we’re all going through is way worse than whatever consequence may be born of it?
So, in a way, unless your tongue has been cut off and you’ve been kept away from the rest of civilization both physically and digitally, there will always be a way to exercise free speech. You will always be able to speak about what’s troubling you just as you’ll always be able to call out the governments on their issues. So, in a nutshell, we just choose not to.
Yeah, there are threats. People who speak up against bad governance in my country usually end up in exile or they end up in prison. Or worse. It’s understandable that people think of these factors, it’s understandable knowing that going against those in power comes with a heavy price, and many times, even your family members might suffer for it. The smart thing might be to simply keep your head down and keep quiet, making sure you don’t draw the attention of the people. But then, that is a choice. That is simply us choosing not to utilize our fundamental human rights because we’re scared of the consequences.
This is a valid feeling and I understand it because it’s something I do also and even today, I find myself also a victim of it. A victim of fear and willing to allow my rights get trampled over because I’m too scared to fight for them. But then, what can we do? I don’t think there is a manual on such a matter. It works differently for everyone. Maybe, the day we all choose not to be scared of our oppressors, we can finally speak up about all the things that are troubling us. They’re relying heavily on their intimidation tactics and once we decide that such things no longer scare us, we’d finally be free of them.
No one really takes your choice of free speech from you without your consent, we allow them to take it. Sometimes going with the wish of your oppressors might be the smart move, especially when you consider your future and your family, sometimes peace and happiness might come at the cost of a few human rights. Going against them, while noble, might cost you everything you’ve ever worked hard towards. That’s the sad reality of life, and it’s one we all face on a daily basis.
But then, all these are just my opinion on the matter, so I could very well be wrong. I just hope that we all get better at this thing called living, and stop being scared of those who go a long way to keep us down.
