Importance of Freedom of Speech

Freedom can mean multiple items to multiple kinds of different people. Everyone was born with different human rights. When people are free and have rights, they choose how they want to live their lives. To be free means to be independent because free people can say what they want, can have their own abilities, and can live without fearing those in charge.

Speech is extremely important for freedom. It allows people to be able to not think the same way as everyone else does, to have their own opinions. However, this freedom is being taken away in some areas of the world and they are losing their rights because they cant be independent. People all across the world get silenced or killed for speaking their minds. Malala talks about how she was a smart girl, and how she also spoke out on what she believed in. However the Taliban did not like how she had her opinions, so they shot her. They tried to silence her but they did not succeed(Speech at the United Nations 310). People get denied this right even though they deserve it just as much as everyone else. Some people do not see freedom of speech as a human right, they see it as a bad way of life. However, many others do think everyone is entitled to it. “Gandhi's passionate defense of free speech, which he considered "absolutely necessary for a man to breathe the oxygen of liberty."’ (War of Speech) Gandhi was the person who stood for peaceful protests. He is well known today and was a great example of someone who believed all humans are equal. Not everyone out in the world will agree but people need freedom of speech because everyone is different. Freedom of speech is only one of the many factors in what it means to be free.

Another important factor of what it means to be free is to have their own abilities. In the short story called Harrison Bergeron, all the characters had their own abilities and skills. However, they were restricted, interfered with, or taken away because they were all supposed to be “equal”. Harrison was not happy because of them all having to be fair and equal. So he stood on stage and decided to take off his restrictions, otherwise called handicaps. When he did so, he was killed. He died because he did not want his abilities to be confined because others were not as skilled as him. He found it unfair how he had to hide his qualities and was shamed and killed for it. People do not all learn at the same speed, are not as strong as others, or are not as talented or fortunate as others. Another example of how people can't be “equal” is in the book, The Giver. In The Giver, Jonas is a boy who grew up in a dystopian society where everyone was equal and their job was designed for them. They all are born and the government, the elders, decide it all. They decide what job they had, what they liked, and even what kind of family they have. Jonas realizes that no one really cares about the people and does not feel joy or love. And so he runs away from his home, everything he has ever known, to find happiness. He is risking it all by running and never going back because that is how important the freedom to have their own skills is. If everyone is restricted and held back because others are as skilled as them. Then it will cause sadness because everyone is the same and their talent and potential are gone. Everyone is different, and so someone being themselves is a vital part of what it means to be free.

Finally, the other part of what it means to be free is not to fear the people in charge. Franklyn D. Roosevelt said, “That kind of world is very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb” (Four Freedoms 276). The word tyranny means “harsh rule under nation or people.” People who are in charge, like dictators or presidents, have the power to cause destruction. When people do not trust who is in charge they tend to worry, even if who they are scared of is in another nation. This is because if they seem like they are going to attack, then people will not be free because they are scared. However, people do not always just fear attacks or other nations. People also can be scared of those who are in charge of their nation and feel like they're being controlled. Which most of the time will not make them feel free or safe. For example in the movie The Lion King, the animals were not scared when Mufasa was in charge, because they loved, trusted, and believed in Mufasa. However, when his brother, Scar, killed him. The throne went to Scar. After that, all the animals were frightened because no one trusted Scar. He was basically a dictator. So this makes everyone not free. They had no freedom. Everyone was hopeless until Mufasa's son, Simba, took the throne. After he became king everyone was happy because he gave them back their freedoms and no one was scared. The animals’ freedoms changed when someone else became in charge. It was someone who they knew would not hurt them. They knew that Simba would be a good leader and so they were not scared anymore because of who was in control. It matters who is in charge because to be free, there must be no fear. Whether they are controlling and restricting what someone can do or say. Or a threat to their safety, which causes them to be scared. Being absent from fear is a big component of freedom.

There are many rules and requirements for freedom. Without these certain components, there would be no freedom in the world. People would just be controlled and puppets Freedom has three key components, which are for someone to say what they want, for someone to be able to have their own capabilities, and to be excused from fear. If everyone had these elements in their lives, then all humans would be free, because that is what it means to be free. Freedom is dependent on important building blocks, to create a human right.