People around the world have a common theory about Americans: how lazy, arrogant and ungrateful we are. They have one thing right; we take our freedom of speech for granted. We never have to think about what were going to say or how something is going to sound. We can support whoever we want in political elections. We can protest, assemble and appeal.
It is a tough subject to think about, but freedom of speech is what built the fabric of America. In my opinion, freedom of speech is much more than just the right to say what you want (as long as it does not threaten anyone etc….); it is the right to have intellect. Americans can go to school, and apply the knowledge they learn there to their everyday lives, therefore giving them more controversial ideas that they can voice. We have this luxury and don’t even think about what it would be like without it. Well there is one place I can think of that is the antithesis of my thoughts. Nazi Germany. When people think of this regime, they mostly think of world domination, Adolf Hitler, and the holocaust; however, the Nazis are just as famous for being oppressors of the educated. An article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum explains that there was a good amount of opposition towards the Nazi party from within Germany. Democratic liberal parties as well as communist parties all opposed Hitler, some went as far as to plotting his assassination, unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. Apparently, these intellectuals who opposed the Nazis were very against this “new Germany”, so against it in fact that German secret police and Gestapo actually had special missions geared towards taking these organizations out by force.
Similarly, the Nazis did not just target Jews as the only religious group they persecuted. The third Reich was very much against the Catholic Church, there were even advertisements out there to defame Catholics and the church. Opposition from youth came from universities around Germany; one interesting story comes from Munich University in 1942. A professor and two students formed the white rose resistance group, as they did not want to join the Hitler Youth. They passed around anti-Nazi leaflets and as a result were executed.
Nazi Germany was a period of time that created a tremendous amount of political and social unrest. We never think about these people who stood against Hitler, maybe because we do not know about them, but it is interesting to find out how much more there was to the Third Reich’s agenda. Any intellectuals opposing the party were either deported or murdered alongside the Jews, Homosexuals and disabled. We really are lucky to live in a country that not only tolerates free speech and thought, but encourages it. The American government goes as far as to let the KKK march in the streets of New York City. We should all take some time to appreciate the rights we have here in America.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005208
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"In my opinion, freedom of speech is much more than just the right to say what you want (as long as it does not threaten anyone etc….); it is the right to have intellect." I think you are completely right in saying that and couldn't agree more. I had no idea that the Nazi's took such strong stance against certain educational practices.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your thoughts on how Americans take their freedom of speech for granted. People abuse the privilege by not using it in context of issues of high importance. With this right comes the individual responsibility to function at a level of intellectual competence in which the benefits of the freedom can be reaped. For example, freedom of speech, especially within radio and journalism, facilitates individual stimulation of current issues. With this, the individual can use his/her own freedom to influence these issues. I personally don't know anyone, at the university age, who makes an apparent controversial issue in politics and claims it is their right. I see this more in the context of racial, gender, and origin discrimination.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Yitz and Cynthia about how we as Americans take our rights for granted. Because we have all of these rights, we think that we're invincible and can say/do whatever we want and not get into trouble in our own country. This presents a problem when Americans travel abroad because we still have the same mindset to an extent: we think that we can say whatever we want because we're from America, even though in whatever country we may be in, it may be frowned upon. Because of this assumption that we can say whatever we want, whenever and whereever we want is why a lot of the world feels the way it does about us. As Yitz said, other countries see us as arrogrant, outspoken, and lazy. The freedoms we have are not all direct reasons for being arrogant, lazy, etc. but they certainly do have a hand in it.
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