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> It protects those who reveal secrets the authorities would keep hidden, those who criticize the way things are done, and those who propose doing things in a d
by Georgelemental 4y ago
> It protects those who reveal secrets the authorities would keep hidden, those who criticize the way things are done, and those who propose doing things in a different way.
Freedom of speech protects your right to say that the earth is round. The roundness of the earth won't reveal any corruption scandals, it won't lead to major political reforms. It's not political at all. And yet is is just as protected as anything else.
More generally, defining freedom of speech in terms of government is wrong, because freedom of speech fundamentally does not depend on government. It is an inalienable, God-given right, that people have even in a state of nature where no government exists.
- jltsiren 4y agoThe primary purpose of freedom of speech is protecting political participation. The protection for other kinds of speech is a trivial consequence. As for those supposed inalienable rights, I suggest empirical validation. Go to a country like North Korea and try testing, which rights actually exist. The only rights that matter are the ones that the society (not necessarily the government) is willing to enforce.
- Georgelemental 4y agoIt doesn't matter what society thinks. Free speech is self-evident, as natural as breathing—it needs no philosophical justification. Society may try to deny it, but in doing so they deny what it means to be human