A society that doesn’t guarantee freedom of expression never sees the light of progress.
Freedom of expression is fundamental to form a society that wants to move forward, that wants to progress. Lately, we have become a feeble society. A society that gets hurt by words, by expressions, by jokes, will stagnate.
We can’t tolerate disagreement, we can’t fathom why someone offends our gods, why someone offends our religion.
People go to an extreme level to make other people submit if they don’t agree with what has been said. Freedom of expression has no meaning. Religions have been there for a long time. Every decade, every century, someone has offended the religion by saying something that the majority don’t agree with.
Minority Rule
Minority rule – It takes a small number of intolerant virtuous people with skin in the game, in the form of courage, for society to function properly.
But when the majority suppresses freedom of expression, minority rule goes out of the door. Force is not the answer. Force is not what takes us forward.
To progress, we must look into ourselves, we must face those challenging thoughts. We must disagree. Disagreement gives birth to different perspectives, different perspectives bring new ideas and new ideas bring progress.
A society that wants to move forward allows discontent, sees disagreement as an opportunity and not a chance to force a rule.
My grandfather fought for India’s independence. Our ancestors fought against colonialism so we can be free. But if in democracy, you can not allow discontent through freedom of expression, what is the use of that freedom?
When your kid will disagree with you, you can use the force a few times, but not always. At some point in time, you will have to change your perspective.
When a photographer is not happy with the photo he is trying to take, he changes his perspective. It’s a similar approach.
Freedom of Expression
Freedom of expression is never free. Whether modern democracies are made for that or not, we must respect the right for everyone’s voice. We find a way, we figure out a path. It may not be a simple path, but it will be worth it. With social media usage increasing, we’ve become an element of intolerance. We can’t tolerate someone saying something that we disagree with. We interpret meanings that will make us feel offended. There is no civil discourse.
Civil discourse is only possible if both parties even have some understanding of each other’s freedom of expression and they respect each other. Opinions will differ, ideas will be different, it will come down to how we express them and how we are ok with disagreement.
If you are able to express yourself freely, you will live in a world where you will see every opportunity as learning. But don’t think that everyone can see it the same way. Can you handle a disagreement?
Even if we take freedom of expression granted, you should be able to say whatever you want to say. Even if that means something bad, something that society might not represent. After all, you should say what you feel. There will always be someone who will try to curb your freedom, but don’t let such people stop you.
Writer’s Responsibility
As a writer, I have a responsibility to tell stories. The same responsibility comes with freedom of expression. So I will write good stories, bad stories, great stories, crazy stories. Some may like it, some may not. I don’t have time to convince everyone to like it. Some may even throw away the book and say that they didn’t like my book.
#Fiction must compete with first-rate reporting. If you cannot write a story that is equal to a factual account of a battle in the streets or demonstrations, then you can’t write a story. – JOHN CHEEVER
So express yourself, write what you want to write, let the people say what they want to say. After all, freedom is all about disagreement.