Enjoying the endless freedom of speech

I can write this. I can say this. I can shout whatever I so please from the roof of my house (as long as I’m not waking anyone). I have the ability to think for myself and the right to show it. I have a voice. I have freedom of speech.

I love my creations of art and the jokes that I tell my friends and the conversations I have with people who are different than me. I love the cultures and traditions of others. Even when I meet a person who has a completely different opinion than I do, I don’t shut them down and block them out because I always find it helpful to listen to other’s point of view. The Internet is one of mankind’s greatest inventions for that reason, because it opens a door to millions of different conversations with billions of different people of varying races, cultures, and nationalities (if you can get past the obvious language barrier first). I want to truly experience the world in the life I live and I want to hear the stories and words of people, no matter how rich, poor, young, old, or unimportant they seem.

I care about having a voice in life and I care about those who feel like they have none. The freedom of expression is one of the most basic human rights there is. How must those people feel who live in those countries, where they are suppressed for simply having different political or religious views? They must feel like they don’t matter, or in worse cases, are afraid for their lives. Organizations like ISIS are built on the foundation of thinking they are always right and their beliefs are the only ones acceptable, no matter how evil they truly are.

That’s why free speech is so necessary. If you live in a world where you are only greeted with the same ideas you have, and you force others to agree with you, and add to your self-righteousness, then it will only end in calamity.

“I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.”-Voltaire

Back in 1776, when America was ruled by Great Britain, the founding fathers knew how important it was to be able to criticize the government. It’s especially important now with the protests around the president-elect, to remember that this is what the founding fathers wanted: to be able to hold rulers and officials accountable. Places like North Korea are horrifying because criticizing the government usually ends in death. The most dangerous person in the world isn’t a thief or soldier, but rather a dictator who has been unopposed for so long that he or she believes that they are God.

Free speech matters to me because it matters to the world. It matters because the universe seems too vast for comprehension; it seems lonely and endless. Life is ultimately pointless without the words of another. Think of all the progress and love we could have as a world if we just opened our ears to the thoughts of others. It would be endless.

As John Lennon said,”You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you will join us and the world will be as one.”

I can say things and I can break things, but it takes a lot to change a mind. The world isn’t without hope though, because I wrote this.