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There is no way to accurately judge whether the value of freedom of expression is entirely societal or personal; it encapsulates so many different layers of importance regarding ourselves and the society we live in and the necessity of its’ extent looks different to every person. One of my classmates in the discussion board earlier this afternoon stated that freedom of expression is a privilege that we should all be thankful to have since it allows us to exchange information that would better society freely without fear of censorship and allows us as people to express ourselves without living in fear for our personal safety. I think that there is truly no way to label the value of a concept like free expression since without it, we would likely not even be able to begin challenging it’s importance in the first place.

As I touched on above, free expression allows us the means to express how we truly wish to represent ourselves without fear of our safety. When Rivers Were Trails discusses how video games are a more popular modern medium to exchange information and experiences freely and create a sense of empathy for those that do not have similar experiences. By living through someone else’s history in the first person, players are able to have a more personal experience with the concept of the General Allotment Act and have more empathy for Indigenous peoples today that might struggle with generational trauma brought on by the consequences of this history. Expressing our cultural backgrounds in ways that we personally know are respectful and sharing the experiences we’ve had with others is just one way that freedom of speech and expression can help push society towards mutual understanding.

Being able to be who we are, share our thoughts and emotions, or debate one another without borders are all ideas worth protecting and fighting for, which is why the conversation around censorship and free speech can become so slippery. While free speech is not always used to spread empathy and kindness, taking away other peoples’ rights to voice their opinions, even if extreme, can become such a case by case basis that free speech does inevitably end up blocked. For myself, having the ability to express myself outwardly by dressing a certain way or speaking a certain way is extremely important to feeling comfortable in my own skin and I spent many years in an environment that did not allow such individualism, so growing up I think it’s important to fight for free expression since I know personally the mental toll having to close off who you are to “fit into” a silent society can take, especially for younger people.