Expression of Speech

It's interesting to reflect on the evolution of the First Amendment and how it has been interpreted over time. The founders' beliefs about freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition have been at the core of American democracy since the country's inception. It's fascinating to see how these ideas have evolved and been shaped by events throughout history, from the Alien and Sedition Acts to the Civil Rights Movement.

An example of an interpretation of the first amendment is the "Marketplace of Ideas" theory in 1919. This theory suggests that the best way to arrive at the truth is to allow all ideas to be freely expressed and to let the public decide which ideas are the most valid. An issue today is finding ways to navigate the complex problems related to free speech and the internet.

When examining the idea of free speech, 8 expressions are presented with it. Those 8 expressions are:

1. Marketplace of Ideas

2. Participation in Self-government

3. Stable Change

4. Individual Self-Fulfillment

5. Check on Government Power

6. Promote Tolerance

7. Promote Innovation

8. Promote Dissent.

The expression I think means the most to me, has the most significant role in society now, and is extremely important is the 8th expression, "Promote Dissent." In current times people have been able to openly speak on things they disagree with the government. An example of this would be protests in Washington, D.C. As United States citizens, our job is to criticize the government when we think they are doing wrong. It also ties into "Promote Tolerance;" you may want to disagree, but it may be better to remain tolerant.

Utilizing this theory will allow more people to become more open-minded and show each other respect for their freedoms. It also shows how we can do better to improve our country and work together to make it better.

The Supreme Court

The supreme court can be made from 5 to 10 justices, and they are one of the 3 branches of the United States government. One thing I didn’t know about the United States Supreme Court or Judicial branch is that it is the most substantial court in not only all of America but all of the world. This is because the Supreme Court can impeach the president, as seen with Andrew Jackson, Bill Clinton,  and Donald Trump. They can do this because of one of the former chief justices, John Marshall. 

In the court case Marbury v. Madison (1803), the fourth-ever chief justice, John Marshall, deemed the Supreme Court worthy of reviewing if the federal laws passed by congress were constitutional by due process.

Supreme Court cases can sometimes be viewed as their own laws, with examples such as Roe v. Wade, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Dred Scott v. Sanford. In each of these cases, many United States citizens were affected, with African American slave citizenship being denied in Dred Scott’s case and abortions no longer being provided by the federal government, and that was up to the state.

TedTalk React #1

 When I watched the two TedTalks from Andy Yen and Finn Mystrad, I was alarmed by how much of our private information is out there for tech companies. It baffles me that companies will go so far in breaching our privacy to buy and sell information and implement ads catered to our taste. 

This breach in privacy affects me in many ways. Since I am a student at High Point University, a lot of the information I get can be through email or received electronically. Some of those emails contain private billing information that I don’t want people to see. It also affects my family as my mom receives emails from my siblings schools about their behavior and grades. 

There are several ways to keep my family and my information safe though. One way being encryption. The only problem with encryption though is that the government can lawfully ask you for the key to your encryption and get your information anyway. I feel that the government should fix this problem by encrypting all data pertaining the privacy and allowing only the sender to have the key to it, this way the sender can send a message to the receiver without it being seen by other parties. 

My 5 Favorite News Sources

When getting news from a source on specific topics it can be difficult. There are very few unbiased news sources, but that doesn’t mean that a news source is bad just because it is biased. Some of my favorite news sources consist of CNN, Fox News, The Washington Times, TikTok, and ESPN. 

CNN is a news network that covers entertainment, weather, health, politics, and the world. I’ve known about this news network since middle school. It is known to lean more towards the left in politics, which in my opinion is good because with the 2nd news source in mind I think it is good to get the extremities of both sides of politics.

Fox News covers almost all the same things that CNN covers but the reason I like this news source is for the same reason I like CNN. It provides a good contrast between the two extremities of politics in America. Since Fox News is more conservative it allows more insight into the situation of both political parties and each sides opinions.

The Washington Times is the news source that I like when I want to be completely focused on politics rather than the weather and car accidents. Since this news source focuses a large amount of its energy on politics it is a place to go to get the most basic information. 

Although technically the app isn’t made for news, and sometimes I don’t use it for such, TikTok can do a good job on keeping me up to date on the latest news in certain situations. It keeps me up to date on mostly entertainment, such as, the latest game releases or it will be about a recent accident that occurred anywhere in the world. A disclaimer though is that you can’t trust just anything you hear on the app, nonetheless it has its uses. 

For the last source there is ESPN. Now I’m not a big sports guy but typically if I decide to sit down and watch basketball or football (the American kind) I’ll go to ESPN. It’s also a good news source for learning more about the celebrity athletes and their current situations. So not only can you stay up to date on your favorite sports you can also stay up to date on your favorite players.