Friday, April 22, 2011

Freedom of Speech Encourages Creativity

Creativity flourishes best in circumstances where freedom of speech is openly permitted.
Describe a specific situation in which creativity might flourish in circumstances where freedom of speech is not openly permitted. Discuss what you think determines whether or not freedom of speech encourages creativity.
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In the mid-18th century, New England colonists rebelled against the British Crown in the fight for independence. Through the American Revolution, colonialists sought to establish a democratic society founded on certain freedoms. In the process of defining citizens' liberties by means of the Constitution, the freedoms of speech and press stood out as a cornerstone in maintaining a democracy. Indeed, allowing citizens to express themselves freely tends to foster exchange of diverse ideas and unlimited creative potential.

In general, an open society that encourages free speech gives people the means to connect with each other and share different ideas. With the free flow of information, individuals or groups can access and build upon the resources they need to develop their own ideas and creativity. Indeed, the untrammeled access to information via the internet and other media sources has played a huge role in allowing people to connect with others, take entrepreneurial risks and become innovators.

A government that restricts freedom of speech also tends to have a chilling effect on their people's ability to offer fresh solutions to the country's problems. It also prevents people from exploring new ideas and expressing themselves in creative ways by means of research and the arts. These repressive governments will often place people in jail for saying something in opposition to the current administration. The desire to stay alive and protect one's family discourages citizens from exchanging different ideas and publicly sharing new ways of thought.

While most people would not cross a government's restriction on speech in consequence, risk reprisal, sometimes repression unleashes the most creative forces. For example, a Chinese literary critic, Liu Xiaobo, won the Nobel Peace Prize this year for his fight against Chinese human rights abuse. In this case, the threat of imprisonment did not stifle Xiaobo's ability to express himself and he went on to gain international recognition for his activism. However, it is quite rare and only in exceptional cases that repressive regimes cause people to act creatively and persistently for change.

In order to support the growth and innovation, a society must encourage and allow for broad freedom of speech. Of course, this freedom must be qualified in a way that it does not permit minorities from being harmed (e.g., hate speech, slander). These limitations, however, work to protect vulnerable people of society and do not result in stifling a person's overall ability to share new ideas with others. Citizens allowed to express themselves freely will tend to seek others with similar goals in order to bring about certain change in society and develop innovations.

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