Today's topic is as interesting as past topics spread over 133 weeks. Hivelearners gives a good time to my brain as it helps me recall the issues that I learned during academics and how I can reuse all that knowledge that just sits in my brain and has yet to be expressed. The right to free speech is already a big topic but I want to analyse it with a bigger lens - Ethics. So, I can tell you what must be done and what are the dynamics.
The right to free speech is a fundamental block to any nation-state structure. Without it, the purpose of sacrifices done by our ancestors throughout the medieval era since the Renaissance would go in vain. For the same thing, we saw the movement of decolonization, we saw the glimpse of suffering in the freedom struggles. That's why the nation that earned this freedom through immense struggles is also the one to whom this freedom of speech is the nearest to their ideology. We can see how it affects society, considering - Russia - USA, North Korea - South Korea, China - India, Pakistan - Bangladesh.
My rights are protected as long as I guard and respect your rights. Similarly, what's the use of freedom of speech if I am not bothered to understand the other's perspective? Right to speech is not just ensuring the expression of one but the expression of everyone. And it goes deeper from this surface level of understanding. If we are trying to eclipse the right of speech of others then this whole philosophy of freedom burns down. Uncensored ideas, decentralization, and empowerment are the fruits of this social contract only. The contract - where we both sit together and talk it out, understand each other, and empathize among us.
Ethics is the elephant in this room. Ethics is the science of understanding moral character and an apparatus to determine the rights and right things to do. Law is just a subset of Ethics. Ethics is natural and covers the horizon, there is no corner to it and it cares about the freedom of will & choice. My ethics guides me to self-determine through my experience, understanding, and self-introspection. And the way love, compassion, forgiveness, etc are the natural emotions, freedom of expression is as well. Socrates - a great philosopher sacrificed himself for the same cause of freedom of speech. In modern times we see Mandela, and Gandhi as the key proponents of such freedom.
Ethics says that it is not only derived from moral/self-understanding rather scientific temper and rationality are the backers of it. Staying silent is also a harm to this notion. By staying silent you himself sacrificing your will and choice for nothing. Also, the internalization of silence through censoring is the other way to block this.
Certain freedoms are not situational and require you to fight for entire of them or none of them. They do not come in bits and parcels. Fundamentals are those for which no divisibility is acceptable. For the same thing, every society witnessed a revolution, and many of them still witnessing revolutions like North Korea, Iran, and several Middle East nations. Also, freedom is bound to come, if you are not standing then someone else will stand for this right. The only difference that will remain ultimately is that you will die without this freedom and someone may live with this freedom.
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