Eight Values of Freedom - Free Expression

Eight Values - Free Expression 

I think the fourth Value of Free Expression - individual self-fulfillment aka self-actualization, is the Value of Free Expression that resonates the most with me, feels the most important, and is the most personal to me. I also think it’s one of the things we see the most in action today especially in social media. 

Individual self-fulfillment is freedom of speech, it enables people to express themselves however they want which lets people form and express their own personal identity. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression of personal-identity is a core aspect of human dignity, human agency and bodily autonomy. This feels the most important to me because if you cannot form you own personal identity then you will have a land of mindless people. 

We see individual self-fulfillment in action every single day. We see it in the differences between people in our everyday life, we see it in the different social media personalities online. Social media is the main way we see this and it’s a main way to help someone with self-actualization and free expression. Content creators build their platforms on free expression, without it then we wouldn’t be able to have so many different kinds of consumable media. 

Something going on in the real world that involves free expression, and free expression can explain something is the news and what’s happening with the American Government. If we didn’t have free expression then news outlets and social media influencers wouldn’t be able to report truthfully on the negative things going on with the government. An example of when free expression was impeded was in 2020 during COVID under the Biden Government when scientists' accounts were heavily censored and hidden. Their free expression was impeded and therefore they couldn’t share facts to the greater American community.