Freedom of Expression Varieties: Learning from and Enjoying Them All
Free Press Media aims to present and to represent the entire spectrum of the principle of freedom of expression. We seek to include it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Free Press Media's twitter feed, containing everything from anarchism to motivational speaking to paganism to Latin language appreciation to hate speech to spirituality to pornography, serves as a prime example.
Freedom of expression is one of the principles governing the universe and naturally it is the principle on which Free Press Media concentrates. Stephen Covey, of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" fame, argues the best life is as he says is "centered" around "principles" instead of what he deems the "alternative centers" such as: family, enemies, church, self, spouse, money, possessions, pleasure or job. Of the many, many principles governing the universe; our organization has selected the specific principle of freedom of expression on which to center its existence.
Our twitter feed and programs represent various types of freedom of expression, hopefully all. The most important thing is freedom of expression itself. Some of the programs and feeds we present have nearly all positive and constructive content; a good number have some positive and some not so redeeming content, which is of course relative to one's perspective.
The fundamental question of the principle of freedom of expression is to permit or not to permit, and we believe this universal principle dictates permitting all types of expression. Stephen Covey says principles involve an upward spiral; (i.e. different deeper levels of application.) To permit or not to permit is the first level of the principle of freedom of expression; we seek to permit all types of expression, but we don't believe in stopping there. We opt for the more proactive level of not only permitting the legal rights of all types of expression, but also seeking to understand all types of expression and to learn from them. Consequently, understanding happens to be one of Covey's "7 Habits".
This is not to say that it is wise to use freedom of expression for any purpose whatsoever. To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, when applying the principle of freedom of expression, one better use it to create something empowering and edifying rather than garbage. Neither I personally, nor the organization Free Press Media, seek to stifle anyone else's use of freedom of expression, yet personally we strive to use freedom of expression to create the best expressions instead of dubious material.
The various categories of freedom of expression we present and represent are as follows:
- Socialist/Communist/Anarchist/Leftist: I would classify these under Stephen Covey's "enemy centered paradigm" type. Though socialists, communists, anarchists, and leftists talk about principles, they are really more what of Covey calls "enemy centered". Much of their rhetoric declares war on their enemy and demonizes their enemy. Usually they declare their enemy to be some type of capitalist. That is their main focus. Often in life, people actually stand for something not so noble, while they say they are standing for the most noble thing in the world. Ideologies such as socialism and anarchism ironically are often not about high ideals despite what their proponents say. Still, we can learn a lot from these points of view.
- Capitalist/Libertarian: These groups can be enemy centered, especially libertarians who are obsessed with the government, but sometimes capitalist think tanks and thinkers are entirely proactive, promoting the principles of the free market, thus they are very empowering.
- Hate Speech: Obviously, hate speech is not the most empowering use of freedom of expression. Better to avoid using hate speech yourself, but it is best to permit it and learn from it and I know I have learned a lot about life and myself from exploring hate speech. First and foremost, it is not to be suppressed.
- New Ideas: New ideas are generally very proactive and intellectually stimulating. Using free speech to broaden our minds is the best. Among other things, these new ideas include scientific breakthroughs, new languages, micronations, and paradigm changes. New ideas are usually proactive and creative.
- Alternative News Sources: The mainstream media is everywhere, so it's great to get additional perspectives inside one's country and also from within other countries.
- Religions and Spirituality: It's great to learn about and from all religions. Obviously, not all religions contain the same amount of truth, though all probably contain some truth. Thus, they only differ in the degree of truth they contain. Freedom of religion is a foundation of a free society, so at the most elemental level, all religions need to be permitted, and at higher levels, it is best to explore and understand them.
- Pornography: Pornography is one of the most controversial uses of freedom of expression. Some say it deserves to be an exception to free speech protections, but we say, above all, permit it! The tougher question is: ought one consume it? Pornography may not be the best use of freedom of expression and may not be all that good for you, but like with junk food, it might be okay in moderate amounts as long as the foundation of our diet is nutritious. Thus we believe one can learn from viewing pornography and we also believe pornography can be an enjoyable if not edifying use of free expression.
- Fun and Wacky: It's good to laugh at silly, odd, outrageous, absurd things. It's probably not best to focus one's entire energy on these things and Jim Rohn gave a great commentary about the dangers of coming across as what he called "a funny man". Rohn argued that humor is a wonderful thing, but one loses personal credibility if they are acting silly all the time.
- Artists: Creativity is a wonderful proactive way to use freedom of expression. It's best to listen to and view artists that are truly original and refreshing rather than the same old stuff
- Interesting/General Knowledge: It's always great to learn something new and expand one's knowledge base
- Mavericks: It's great when people think for themselves and challenge conventions. It's wonderful to learn from people who refuse to embrace the old paradigms, structures, ideologies, and belief systems. It's awesome to view the expressions of people who defy categorization and live life the way they think is best rather than living according to society's standards.
- Motivational/Inspirational: Motivational and inspirational speech is perhaps the best possible use of freedom of expression. Encouraging people to be their best is very admirable. This doesn't mean we have to swallow the words of motivational speakers and writers uncritically as critical thinking is also a virtue. Possibly little is more noble than expression which enables us to develop our fullest potential and achieve our dreams.