Eight Values of Free Expression: Protect Dissent

    Dissent is "a strong disagreement or dissatisfaction with a decision or opinion, especially one supported by most people or by people in authority." as defined by Collins Dictionary. This is demonstrated most of the time during a political protests by protesters. As citizens, we are not going to agree with everything done or said by people in power because every person's living "situation" or way of life is not the same as every person, and the government can not always make decisions that favor one set of people. 

   

    However, that has not stopped them before. Democratic leaders are going to make decisions that favor people who are a part of the democratic party/vote for democratic decisions. The same goes for republicans. For example, teachers normally vote democratic because "democrats will fight to significantly increase pay and benefits for all educators, in order to help recruit, retain, and reward high-quality teachers and support professionals, and will continue to support measures to help teachers pay for out-of-pocket classroom expenses," as stated by David Griffith. 

    While republicans think that when it comes to teachers, they "should be protected against frivolous lawsuits and should be able to take reasonable actions to maintain discipline and order in the classroom", David Griffith wrote. Therefore, if you were a teacher, it is a no-brainer which side you would vote for because you want the policies and decisions that improve your salary and working environment. 

    

    Moreover, to dissent, we need to let the government know when we do not agree with their decisions. Granted, the government does not want people to disagree with them, but free speech is our constitutional right. This relates to Steven Shiffrin debating "that dissent should be promoted because it lies at the heart of a core American value: free speech." 

    Americans seem to only remember that they value free speech and that it is their right when the media shoves the decisions they disagree with down their throats. Steven Shiffrin is known to test the limits of free speech by bringing up things like "flag burning, cigarette advertising, racist speech, and subsidizing the arts" because he is trying to show people that there is more to freedom of speech than people realize, especially what is allowed under this right. 

    Furthermore, is proving that by giving "a dissent-based approach reveals weaknesses in the approaches to free speech taken by postmodernism, Republicanism, deliberative democratic theory, outsider jurisprudence, and liberal theory." If people did begin to look beyond the famous that people in power put on to better themselves, then clearer choices would be made when deciding what is best for our country. 

    

    When Biden announced that he would be giving student loan forgiveness, most people did not think of what actions would be needed for this to happen but instead took the "click bait" and hoped for the best. 

    Logically, for this to happen, taxes would be increased on those who have already paid off because it would not come out of the government's pockets; they are already "$31 trillion (and growing) gross federal debt", according to PGPF. People began protesting because not everyone would qualify for the forgiveness because of their salary, amount in student loans, or if they had already paid off their debt. It is good that people are voicing their dissatisfaction with the decision, but most people only know about it since it was advertised on the media, rather than watching the news or doing their own news research.