THE CHALLENGE OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE 21ST CENTURY.
I’m going to deviate from my schedule of postings on
President Trump’s challenges. Most of what I have been addressing deals with
issues outside the United States. After watching, for the second night in a
row, the so called “Not my President” protest in the US, I decided to address
the internal challenges for the inbound President. Honestly, the issue I am
about to cover transcends potential problems for the new US President, but I
will use the “Not my President” events as the most current, relative example of
the challenges governance, at all levels, anywhere in the world is facing and
will continue to face. Some of what I am about to say is far….far from politically
correct, so, at the end of this post, if you are offended, well, just add that
to your list of issues you may need to be consoled on. Perhaps you could find
some “safe space”?
Do the people of the US have the right to peacefully, note
the word peacefully, the election of Donald Trump? Yes. On this day of all days
in the US, Veteran’s Day, the right to assemble and the right to voice your opinion
is unquestionable. The right to burn the Nation’s symbol of freedom, the flag,
is even protected and amazingly the very people who love that flag understand the
importance of being able to dishonor it. The US’s Founding Fathers understood
the value of allowing the people to express their contempt! It is and has
always been a relief valve for social tension. It has not always lead to peaceful
reconciliation, but the option of allowing citizens to voice their anger has
often been the difference between violence and resolution. Even today, the President Elect gave a
statement how important it was to allow the “Not My President” groups to speak
their piece.
So, what is the issue? Why is the ability to express
yourself becoming more dangerous not just in the US, but throughout the world?
The world is changing and continues to change. Not a
shocking statement. It’s been taking place since the Big Bang! But, we now live in a world
where a person’s or group’s actions can be seen by the rest of the word virtually
within seconds of the event taking place. It’s not tomorrows new on the news
stand. Traditional journalism has no time to vet or shape the event. Governments
don’t have time to respond to or in some cases reshape the event. Governance is now hostage to social
media. In today’s world, 100 people can take to the streets and if the picture
is properly edited, Photoshop, and the right words are inserted to the post,
the world may be told hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets. I give you the first few days of the Arab
Spring in Cairo Egypt as a classic example. 200k people created an event that was watched
all over the world without tuning into major news networks or waiting for “official”
statements from political leadership. 200k people change the course of history for
a country of over 88 million. Do the math! Not even one quarter of one percent
of the population lead to a crisis that destabilized Egypt for over three
years! A crisis that was leveraged by Egypt’s enemies from the moment the
protest started. In the 21st century every act, even by single
person can create an event that virtually turns into a movement overnight. Yes,
singular events have created movements in the past, but they took time. It took
time for the word of an event to spread. It took time for groups to meet and discuss
how they might react. That time allowed governments to shape a response. It
allowed strong government’s time to answer the questions that could lead to the
event being controlled. That doesn’t happen now. Days of “what happened” discussion
must now take place in a matter of hours and in some cases, minutes. No
government can respond it that amount of time and any answer that takes the traditional
days to formulate is now seen as suspect!
In our new world, almost all actions can and often do have consequences,
consequences that are unpredictable and thus producing poor responses. So, if one of the consequences of the “Not My
President” protest is to embolden the enemies of the US, then what price does
the nation pay for the right to assemble and the right to free speech? Should
group of people who make up less than 1 percent of the population be permitted
to disrupt the safety of 300 million? If you think our enemies are not embolden
by events such as the “Not My President” protest, then you do not understand
the changing world I am talking about. If you do understand the dynamics of
this new world, then the next question is even more vital to the nation’s
future? What should be done about it? At what level does the risk to the nation
become more important than the right to assemble and free speech? Who gets to
decide?
The enemies of free speech, free choice and yes Christianity
will take every opportunity to damage the pillar of the Western world.
Pay close attention to the article I have attached and then
ask yourself. In this changing world, what are the dangers of our current “rights”?
More importantly, what are the dangers of even thinking about changing them?
