Do you feel that speech is really free Why or why not - Essay Example

Jeff McDowell Dr. V. Hunt ENC1101 24 October Does Free Speech Exist? Running past a group of Marines at Camp Pendleton California, a man is witnessed being trashed in the sand. This is all because the man disagreed with tactics of his non-commissioned officer. Freedom of speech is a constitutional right for all citizens. This should be protected by all mechanisms available including legal and non-legal means. The word “freedom” implies protection from an obligation or duty. Therefore, freedom of speech means protection from any limitation which lessens or stops one from expressing themselves especially through oral means.

But does this really exist in our society today? Some groups of citizen, especially the military, who are supposed to be protected by this freedom, continue to have limitation on how free they can express themselves through speech. The following paper seeks to show ways in which this freedom of speech has been diluted and can no longer be termed as freedom. The first amendment assures that one has the right to say what they want but with little exclusion. It however does not protect people from the consequences of their actions or words if it may offend others.

There are large files and documents in the legal environment that pose rules and regulations on what one can say, when it can be said, in which surroundings it can be conveyed and to whom it is told. Is this freedom of speech? By definition, this clearly does not reflect any democracy. Even though different countries put different weights on discretion of what can be said, there lacks a single country whether in the west or east which fully allows its citizens to express themselves freely.

In fact, all countries expect political correctness in one way or another. Americans may be comparatively free to air our views compared to some countries where this subject of writing will lead to incarceration, harassment or even punishable by death (Curtis).The United States of America and the United Kingdom are praised for upholding democracy and protecting a good number of basic human rights including the freedom of speech. However, this is mostly perceived by those living outside these countries and more so in the third world countries.

However, individuals like bloggers and political activists feel over-controlled and violated in regards to what can and cannot be said. A good example is expression by two people where one expresses himself by waiving a flag and the other by burning it. The two are treated differently. The one waving the flag will be assumed to be exercising his freedom of expression while the other will be thought to be campaigning for unpatriotic action which may even extend to terrorism and hate for the west (Sunstein).

Freedom of speech is also highly controlled in the military, even more so than on the civilian side. Military servicemen have rights under the constitution and those provided for by the military force. They however do not have equal rights to speech or expression compared to civilians. This is visible in instances such as courts according that the right to expression can be put ignored if it inhibits a certain military mission. It is the responsibility of the DoD to protect the right of expression by the military.

This responsibility is even so limited to how this relates to national security, order and discipline. Free speech is suppressed in how military members are allowed to attend demonstrations but strictly within the country. Demonstrations should be off base, only during off-duty and should not result to violence (Watkins).Military members cannot communicate with an enemy, for example, sending mail to Iraqi soldiers. Some words are contemptuous. This has led to trouble when military officers call specific high government officials like the president and the secretary of defense words like murderers, fools or thieves.

It is a crime for military men to say some things that would insist that they would quit their duty or refuse to do their tasks. Campaigns by the armed forces for a political candidate or a political issue are not allowed. It is consequently clear that the military suffers extensively by being denied so much of what it ironically protects, that is, freedoms and rights (Tedford). It can therefore be concluded that there is nothing like free speech. The military is one of the groups that suffer the most from limitation of their speech and expression.

Even though different countries have different levels of enforcing freedoms, no country has absolute freedom of speech. Efforts should be made to make it liberal for people to exercise free speech as intended by the first amendment.SourcesCurtis, Michael. Free speech, "The Peoples Darling Privilege": struggles for freedom of expression in American history. New York. Duke University Press, 2000. Web. 24 October 2011Haworth, Alan. “Free Speech”: Problems of Philosophy. London. Routledge, 2006. Web. 24 October 2011Sunstein, Cass.

“Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech.” Texas. Simon and Schuster, 2005. Web. 24 October 2011Tedford, Thomas. “Freedom of speech in the United States.” Michigan. Strata Publications, 2001. Web. 24 October 2011Watkins, Charlie. “Free Speech and Military Necessity on Balance.” Chicago. S.N. Press, 2008. Web. 24 October 2011