Post 3 - Values of Free Expression

During our Unit 4 lecture about the eight values of free expression as told through the lens of a bunch of white dudes with relatively minimal amounts oppressive experience through various points in history. I'm very curious to know how many people of prominent minority identity had a say about the values on this list. Any who, of the 8, I think I'm the least discomforted by the theory presented by Vince Blasi which states that we as the individual people are part of the checks and balances of the government. I like this law for the same reason I love twitter (See Post 1); Because the government will focus it's efforts on what we as the people keep buzzing about. But in a more traditional interpretation of this value it's important to analyze how the checks and balances of the government work and then view how the individual is bolstered by it.

In class we discussed how the bill of rights is what allows there to be vertical and horizontal check and balances for the government such that they cannot hold incontestable power above the population. With the entire point of becoming independent of Britain being to get away from the totalitarian monarchy, it would be somewhat senseless to reestablish the same sort of rule except all the power would be fanned out across a few very powerful people instead of a singular one. For the horizontal checks and balances we have the distribution of power within the federal government. This is the three branches of government: The Executive Branch (Presidential powers and the cabinet), The Legislative Branch (Congress, House of Representatives and the Senate), and then the Judiciary (the Supreme Court). Between these three branches, laws are proposed, reviewed, created and/or vetoed, and enforced, but these branches work together in order for a law to be passed with the exception of an executive order which can be passed only by the president. 

Now vertical checks and balances work a little differently because it distributes power across political groupings those groups being federal government, state government and the individual. This set of checks and balances in imperative to the vitality of American democracy because it limits the power of the government, enumerates power, and maximizes our freedoms as Americans. This is done of course through federalism or the sharing of power between the federal and state government. 

But how does this work?

The establishment of the state government allows for the state to be a buffer between the federal government and the individual. The state government allows for the problems, concerns, and the voice of the individual to be heard by the federal government should it need that sort of attention however it also protects the individual from the federal government when the power of there federal government is not applicable. It also allows states to create their own laws based on the input and influence of the people. Legalmatch.com says "Every US States is also a sovereign entity in its own right and is granted the power to create laws and regulate them according to their needs." While state laws still have to be constitutional, it still offers power back to the people. The state is also tasked with jobs like infrastructure, education, health, and ascertaining that it's people can vote for people that feel similarly on how to handle the aforementioned issues. On a technical standpoint, this value of free expression definitely checks. 

However, the introduction of social media and instant information has slightly changed the meaning of but also intensifies the meaning of this freedom. Now more than ever I've found the internet to be one of the biggest means of contact between the federal government as well as the state government  While I won't elaborate entirely here because I already wrote a whole blogpost about my stance on this (again, see Post 1) I have found that few things has made the government respond faster act faster than social media outrage has. 

This past summer after the senseless abuse of force that resulted in George Floyd being murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, media is what spread news so quickly, the outrage lead to protest which lead to yet another attempt at an impeachment trial against Trump for not speaking or acting against such behavior. It also lead Minneapolis local government to rethink how their policing system work. If a more competent president were leading our country I'd like to think that the summers events would have lead to more change and federal influence but I also largely believe that this past summers events lead to Trump not being elected for a second term so that's is still very much so a win that came from the outrage of the people. The decriminalization and legalization of marijuana that is spreading across the United States at the moment is yet another example. 

To ignore the voice of the people is to return to the traditions of a monarchy, so the empowerment of the people to me is the most important of the 8 values of free expression