Blog Post #3 Eight Values of Free Expression

 

        Eight Values of Free Expression 

July 4, 1776 marks the day the Colonists had a cup of tea to celebrate the break from across the sea: 

The Declaration of Independence being adopted and officially founding a nation called The United States of America. 

The Declaration of Independence serves as the why behind the nations existence and the promises it fulfills for the citizens; similarly going hand and hand with The Constitution that was adopted in 1789.

The Constitution, serves as the legal blueprint for the parameters needed in order to ensure the promises of The Declaration of Independence can be fulfilled.

Within The Constitution there are amendments, the first being freedom of speech. Speech is a form of expression and there are many forums one can speak through by expressing feelings and emotions.

Out of the eight values of free expression I find the Marketplace of Ideas to be the most applicable to todays day and age. Not only is this applicable for writers but for other creatives as well. Think about the variety of creative mediums there are such as music, films, graphic design, and writing. 

Part of how creatives make a living is based on how much exposure their work receives. The other portion is based on who you know or get to know.

Many creatives use a variety of social media platforms such as Instagram or LinkdIn to promote their work. 

I find myself wrestling to publish any of my work because of the contract I agree to in the terms of service. This can make the job search harder for recruiters, clients, and potential employees if creatives cannot make their work easily accessible.

This is partially because there is not a secure place to publish content.

Meaning as a creative I know I will not fully own what I produce because it 'may' be republished or parts of what I published can be taken without being compensated. 

For example, I have Beyoncé in a movie trailer I post on Instagram, someone can take the movie trailer and replace it with different words by throwing a script into AI and have Beyoncés audio play with words she did not say. This only seems to become an issue if defamation occurs, if it can be proven to true and the impact deformation has had on the individual in front of the court. 

Link to video

  

But, at the same time if the measure of licensing/publishing is in place artists  would have to inquire and there would likely incur some sort of fee to publish/license their content, by having to go through another loop to share their work. Meaning their would there be less creatives, followed by fewer perspectives and interpretations which would go against John Miltons Marketplace of Ideas theory.  

Not only would this restrict an idea of expressing ones opinion but, it would contradict the mere purpose of the Revolutionary War which was to break away from the tyranny of England.  

Without the Marketplace of Ideas it would against what Thomas Jefferson and the committee that helped write the Declaration of Independence. Specifically, highlighting the natural rights which are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness. All of which the committee writing the Declaration of Independence found to be true. 

But, what is truth? 

 I found myself asking this question when producing a documentary on art therapy. And I can only imagine the Founding Fathers asking the same question when establishing a nation. What truths do we want to be true about our nation? 

I believe that truth is subjective. 

Truth is based on moral principal set by someone of high morals and we the people accept it as objective but our interpretation and relationship with truth is subjective.  

Similarly, to how the principals of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of Independence came to fruition.

I am not discrediting the founding fathers by any means but, they had an 'hi' to their story when conceptualizing the Declaration of Independence.

In fact these rights did not directly come from the Committee of Five , they were based off of a philosopher named John Locke and the Social Contract theory. Which highlights the ideals of life, liberty, and property.  

Needless to say we the people living in the United States of America enter into a contract and it is up to us  to uphold the contract we declare to be true even if some may mistake the truth as artists and citizens living in a digitized world.