“It doesn’t matter what we say, rather it is how we say it.”
This is a saying I often tell myself, one I teach my kids, and one that I think society could benefit from understanding. So, what is the death of free-speech actually mean to society? Is free speech dead completely, or are there, slivers still holding onto those clutches of hope that we once fought so gallantly to obtain?
What is Free Speech?
The First Amendment states;
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievance.”
The Constitutional Convention
“The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May of 1787. The delegates shuttered the windows of the State House and swore secrecy so they could speak freely. Although they had gathered to revise the Articles of Confederation, by mid-June they had decided to completely redesign the government. There was little agreement about what form it would take.
One of the fiercest arguments was over congressional representation—should it be based on population or divided equally among the states? The framers compromised by giving each state one representative for every 30,000 people in the House of Representatives and two representatives in the Senate. They agreed to count enslaved Africans as three-fifths of a person. Slavery itself was a thorny question that threatened to derail the Union. It was temporarily resolved when the delegates agreed that the slave trade could continue until 1808.”
Freedom of Speech is Derived from Just Laws, Formed around Moral Authority.
Who is Congress? I feel like this needs to be defined, and then broken down from a logical standpoint and not a legal one. Sometimes legal lacks logic. Say that fast a couple times, but this is all a distraction over time that embeds a Nation within ideology to a false representation of what we originally intended to become.
This next portion is Article I-III of the United States Constitution, it is rather confusing to most people who have never studied it or the wording. Many words are capitalized and certain words were used, such as the word “chuse,” I hyperlinked the word to a dictionary explaining it a little; there is also an open forum on the site that has comments. I am not sure that is what is important. The First Article should be broken down piece by piece.
Article I
Section 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2.
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free People, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section 3.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for sic Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointment until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless the be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of the President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further that to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
The First Amendment, it says; “Congress shall make no law,” this means that no person can really tell you what to say also, The People elect The Congress.
However, Freedom of Speech is a two way street, people have no right to be heard. That is more often earned by providing value to someone else’s life, writing for me does that so I speak to myself. Through writing we also limit our speech because we are limited in the amount we can write when we type into a social media website. This abridges our own speech, and we end up silencing ourselves, by limiting what we ourselves say.
The dawn of Social Media allowed for a new era of speech, one that the citizenry limited themselves, by limiting what they were saying. Fascism is silencing the opposition, so people you do not agree with you just don’t allow them to speak, cutting off someones voice because you do not like their stance is silencing them from speaking, from the beginning, they have no Freedom of Speech.
