Eight Values of Free Expression

 Free Speech is a cherished pillar of American Democracy and Western Civilization. There are 8 values to Freedom of Speech. They are the marketplace of ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, check on government power, promoting tolerance, promoting innovation, and protecting dissent. Whilst all of these things are important, I believe that individual self-fulfillment is the most important one. I am a weird guy. I make Communist propaganda of Comrade General Big Bird and a variety of other creative absurdities. I am allowed to do this because we live in a society that allows people to express themselves freely.  In our Declaration of Independence, it says "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 

The pursuit of Happiness is my goal when I indulge my creative urges and make Communist Big Bird Propaganda. I am putting my desires into reality. It is important that everyone be able to share their ideas. It may seem a little weird to some, and frankly, it is, but we should be allowed to do weird things, as long as they do not hurt anyone. It is important that we be allowed to experiment in our society. America is an experiment, it is a nation that has changed in many ways since its inception. America is often seen as backward by Europeans for not having similar hate speech laws to them. However, this is a strength of America because it allows all ideas, even if they are weird to be able to present their case. I have said and believed things in the past that I think now are stupid, uneducated, bigoted, or cruel, but I was able to move on because we allow debate to flourish in this country. We allow people to present almost any idea and allow people to react to what is proposed. 

Individual self-fulfillment has allowed America to be a haven for many artists and other creative types. Many creative works, like the one pictured above, can be offensive to some people. However, I cannot be jailed for enjoying them or making them. 

Leaders can be made fun of in ways that are ridiculous. In other nations, this is not the case. Even in Spain, you could get jailed for insulting the King. America, on the other hand, welcomes such scrutiny and mockery of its leaders, even if it is absurd such as saying Biden is a puppet of the Pope. 

Online Privacy Response

 BLOG #2  Write a regular post about issues raised in the videos you watched.

• How do these issues affect you? You friends and family?

• What should the government be doing about these issues?

• What can we do to protect ourselves from invasions of our privacy?
  

My generation was born with the internet. According to Morning Consult, 54% of Generation Z uses social media, let alone the internet, for 4 hours daily. The comparison of Orphious to social media was a good comparison. People make many mistakes in their life and should be forgiven for many of them. I have said many ignorant things that I regret in hindsight, but many of them were not on social media. It is important that people are held accountable and challenged for what they say, but everyone, I believe, has to have an opportunity to repent. It is not an easy process and should be more than just saying I'm sorry in some cases, but it is very important for society. I also thought there was a comparison that could be made to the addictive effects that social media has.  According to Jefferson Health, “Social media platforms drive surges of dopamine to the brain to keep consumers coming back over and over again." 

Social Media companies not only have little respect for privacy, but they entice the youth to release private data and use their time unproductively.  

In addition to this, companies can collude with the government to release personal information. The government can use information such as where you drive to find out what you do each day which can reveal information that is private. It can reveal if you go to church, are having an affair, or what shops you go to. Governments have regulated encryption technology so that they are able to access the communication of individuals. Such regulation leaves the door open for hackers to acquire the personal information of individuals. Governments have the ability to apprehend criminals more easily, while at the same time making it easier for crimes to occur. There is an old saying that one ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and I believe that to be true. Government access is not the solution. The government will have more spending put into putting out the fires that they are the arsonist of.  Revenge porn is also a new issue that has arisen. People can be abused by their former sexual partners and potentially have their careers ruined. It is a violation of someone's trust and privacy. The government should move to criminalize it and enact similar laws to Jamacia. 

There are a variety of different things that we can use to protect our privacy online such as limiting the amount of information we tell people online, not sending intimate pictures,  using a VPN, and make you are using apps that are encrypted. Researching which companies use your data is important.  It would also be a good idea to use programs that summarize the terms and conditions of websites. Nealy everyone simply skips through them which allows for their privacy to be violated. There is also difficult language to understand. Understanding the terms and conditions of different companies is important to know if they are really worth using. I have learned that while the individual can try to protect their data, regulation is needed to protect the privacy of individuals. 

Sources

https://www.jeffersonhealth.org/your-health/living-well/the-addictiveness-of-social-media-how-teens-gethooked#:~:text=%E2%80%9CSocial%20media%20platforms%20drive%20surges,when%20gambling%20or%20using%20drugs.%E2%80%9D

https://morningconsult.com/2022/12/12/gen-z-social-media-usage/#:~:text=Fifty%2Dfour%20percent%20of%20Gen,platform%20by%20a%20wide%20margin.

Pt. 2: The Founding Era/The Supreme Court

 

• What did you learn about the Supreme Court that you didn't already know?

• What is the most important takeaway point about the Supreme Court?

• What was the most surprising thing you learned?

• How did the video change the way you thought of the Supreme Court?

1.  I learned a great deal about the role of the Supreme Court. I didn't know that the Court deliberates in private. I knew that they often wrote their opinions publicly. I thought it was funny that Justice Souter said "you start doing your real work once you forget that you're here". I didn't know that the Court said that Congress could not ban slavery. I didn't know that the Fourteenth Amendment was called the Second Bill of Rights. However, this makes sense, as it has been used to shape our legal system in a variety of ways. The Fourteenth Amendment has been responsible for Brown vs Board of Education and Roe v Wade.  I didn't know that the supreme court receives 7000 cases a year. I knew that only a fraction of the cases were chosen to be decided upon. I also learned that each member wrote their decision after deliberating. 

2. A legislature does not share its reasons but a court does. People have to bring their problems to the court, the court does not make decisions if an issue isn't raised. This probably leads the court to make better decisions than the legislature. In addition to this, the justices serving for life allows making unpopular decisions. While the President can appoint justices, they are beholden to him and often make decisions contrary to what is expected. I have often thought that people saying "The court isn't political" is a cop-out. However, when I think about this statement more, I understand that the court focuses on the law and policies vs politics. While members are opinionated, many different issues arise that are not often dealt with at a national level.

3. This video made me think about how the authority of the Court relies on the trust of the people and the government respecting its role. Marbury vs Madison greatly expanded the role of the court by creating Judicial Review. John Marshall was appointed by Adams to be a Federalist lackey, but he was a competent man who tried to act in the best interests of the public. I am a bit jaded by modern politics and can fall into the opinion that people involved in our government often make decisions based on party loyalty. The court tries to follow the example of Marshall and make decisions that they think will benefit the public. While not the newest revelation to me, it is an important thing to realize in our divided country. Andrew Jackson famously ignored the rule of the court and proceeded with his plans of Indian removal. This set a dangerous precedent, which a few leaders have followed such as Abraham Lincoln suspending habeas corpus and FDR attempting to pack the court. While all three of these men are important American figures and lead our nation through difficult times such as the Nullification Crisis, Civil War, and WW2; their attitude towards the Supreme Court could have been better. 

4. The video made me understand the importance of the Supreme Court. It also made me realize how all of the justices are intelligent people who try to be unbiased. There is a lot of politics around who will be chosen for the court. This could be because we are in the middle of a major culture war in this country, so politicians feel more pressured to be partisan. It also made me understand that the court deals with a variety of issues that are not strictly political but more legal. The justices have their views about the law but talk it out with each other so they can have a better idea of what their individual decision should be. 

My Top News Sources

 Kyle Kulinski- Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@SecularTalk

Kyle is a left-wing political commentator ( social democrat/ libertarian socialist) on Youtube. In recent years, I have come to disagree with a lot of his commentary, but I think his commentary is funny and comes from a genuine place. I have to factor in Kyle's bias when listening to him. I do think Kyle does a good job of prescribing the problems within our society, but not always the solutions. Kyle also talks about issues not addressed by a lot of the mainstream press and doesn't hold punches from either party. Though because he is on the left, he punches from that side, so I need to calculate that. 

Abhijit Chavda-Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@AbhijitChavda/videos

Mr. Chavda is an Indian nationalist who often talks about geopolitics from a realist perspective. I know that what he says has a pro-India bias, but it is interesting to hear how someone from another country views international affairs. I would be lying if I said that I didn't watch him partly for entertainment. He is a funny person, particularly when he attacks Britain and Pakistan.  He also covers historical content which is interesting to me. 

TLDR - Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@TLDRnewsEU

https://www.youtube.com/@TLDRnews

TLDR makes summary videos of what is going on in European and British politics. They do touch occasionally on the rest of the world, but a lot of it is European-focused. It is interesting to know what happens elsewhere and their analysis of what is going on in America. They often tell both sides of the story but are probably similar to CNN in the message, but generally less sanctimonious and more focused on serious issues. 

CNN

I follow CNN on Instagram. I often think they waste time with unimportant topics (what the British royal are doing), but they produce a large amount of content and sometimes have something interesting to say. I do not watch CNN on TV because I do not own a TV and I find them boring, to be entirely honest. They often have a mainstream corporate Democrat perspective.  They are not likely to say anything bold or interesting. They are good for general information. For example, they can tell me that protests happened in Kazakhstan, but not necessarily why they happened. 

Friends 

I have three friends that each provide me with the news. My friend Nick is a classical liberal ( he selfs describes himself as a moderate which I think is cringe and not the best descriptor). He also watches Kyle and Mr. Chavda. He will often tell me about things that I have not been paying attention to or will help clarify something for me. My other friend Matt Gray(Aka Mercantilist Matt) is a good person to ask when I want the paleo-conservative opinion on something. He is often somewhat partisan, but he is an intelligent person, even though sometimes I think his beliefs are silly. He gave an excellent presentation in the Money Talks Club on the health problems in modern America. The last friend that gives me the news is my former confirmation Sponsor, Patrick McIntyre. Mr. McIntyre is a bit older than my father (born in October of 1963) and would probably describe himself as a conservative. He often talks about wasteful government spending and sends me interesting articles from Zero Hedge.