The Eight Values of Free Expression.

     Free expression is a very important right in our world today. With the politics in place today many people feel their opinions, rights, and feelings are being suppressed. There are many situations in our society that do not support people's rights and liberties. Reading about the eight values of free expression made me understand what our rights and obligations entail in a better way. They are very interesting to me because they are explained so well. 

    In today's society, there is a lot of suppression being forced upon many groups of people from all over the political spectrum. I personally support almost everyone's form of self-expression as long as they are not bringing harm to another person or suppressing another person. We as people do not have the right to tell other people to lock their feelings away if we do not agree with them. The only case this would be allowed is if they are physically harming another person. We cannot justify violence as self-expression but many people want to limit expression in the form of words. This was shown very well in the cases of the Black Lives Matter protests. There were so many cases of peaceful and meaningful protests that kept everyone safe, showed motivated and emotional people wanting to make a difference. The peaceful protests were a great example of personal self-expression. Many people were upset about these protests but they are not able to legally do anything because people have the right to peaceful assembly. 

    The problem with some of these protests was when they took a dangerous turn. Some of the protests turned away from their peaceful intentions and became violent causing destruction of property and physical harm to people. This is a form of expression that cannot be allowed. It is when people try to use violence to spread their ideals and message that they have to be stopped not when they are going about it peacefully.

    The eight values of self-expression are a marketplace of ideas. This means we should be open to hearing other opinions and ideas besides our own. People today should open up to ideas that they do not agree with, it doesn't mean they have to live by these ideas they are just open to letting people live their own lives, not the lives society has deemed appropriate. One of my favorite values is participation in self-government. I really agree with the fact that everyday people need to be actively keeping the government in check. 

    There are many people who do not think of the government as being run by the people. The only way a government is effective and just is when it is held accountable by the people they are supposed to be helping. We see many cases of the government being too controlling or not following the will of the people. The vaccine and mask mandates are signs of abuse of power by the government. The government should not be allowed to make blanket medical decisions for an entire country and that is exactly what they are trying to do. The American people have more influence than they think.

Supreme Court

     I found this article very interesting. I have always known what the job and title of the Supreme Court were, but there were many details that I did not know. One small interesting fact I learned was that the Supreme Court went by the acronym SCOTUS. I had no idea they went by this acronym. It does make sense I was just unaware of them being called this name. The Supreme Court has a website that is very informative about the people involved with the Supreme Ciurt include a list of current justices.

    I know understand the Supreme Courts' role and impact on our country. They are meant to keep the other two branches of government in check. They are the only branch that can stop the agendas of the other two. This is my most important takeaway. I was always confused about how the branches of government were kept in check. It reassures me that the Supreme Court is a major part of the checks and balances system. 

    My most surprising takeaway was that the Supreme Court was almost inactive its first term. This makes sense if you think about it since the country was so young and not very orderly yet. I enjoyed this article because it helped me gain such a deeper understanding of the Supreme Court. I am also able to understand how the Supreme Court has changed over time. I read about many cases where the Supreme Court upheld and stopped unfair, or racist laws from being undone. However, they have done a good job in the case of separating church and state. In Engel v. Vitale, the rules that prayer forced by a public school is a violation of the First Amendment. Many people disagree with the separation of church and state, but I agree with the idea that it makes America more inclusive and free. Nobody should have religion forced upon them against their will. This is a great example of how the Supreme court is used in the United States.

 

Top 5 sources of news and information

     My news sources are very important to me. I very much value the fact that I do not only consume mainstream media. I do not only want to only listen read or watch news that is only reporting one side of a topic and is very politically swayed. I see Instagram as one of those sources where you are able to pick and choose who you absorb information from. while the platform itself can be very biased, you can have an easier time picking who to listen to.

    Youtube is my second pick because of how much I use it. I find myself scrolling through and finding news sections and reading or listening to them. I see youtube as another source similar to Instagram. I am able to pick and choose who I listen to very well. 

    Fox is one of the few mainstream media sources I find myself using. I don't use it often but I do use it occasionally. I would align myself with Foxe's conservative mindset but they can be very harsh in many situations. i do not like news sources that are obviously one-sided, from a political and ideological standpoint. I find myself simply picking and choosing what I want to listen to from this network.

    CNN is very similar to Fox in many ways. CNN is almost a mirrored copy of Fox but from the other side of the sprectrum. They are similar to Fox in that they only report what fits their political narrative. I don't fully trust either source so I hear both and piece the truth together.

    Tiktok is my second most used source of news. I like it because it can be very personalized and between Instagram and TikTok, I am able to verify what I hear. I never fully trust a single news source i always want to hear the other side and look for context that may have been ignored.