Eight Values Post

  

                                                                            Associated Press
The need to follow your own path no matter where you are headed.

     Introduction

     When discussing identity, there are many levels, whether it is personal, with beliefs, religion, politics, values, and just choices in general. Identity also ties closely with autonomy, which is the power to make personal choices with the information that no other person has.

    This statement relates and intertwines very closely to the concept of Individual Self-Fulfillment that puts an emphasis on the identity and autonomy aspect and the need to put yourself through your own challenges and set your own goals. 

    Through the words of C. Edwin Baker, "Free speech enables individuals to express themselves and thereby create their own identity - and, in the process, perhaps, find kindred spirits. Freedom of speech thus becomes an aspect of human dignity, human agency, and autonomy." 

A values diagram/illustration

    In this blog post, my class, known as Talking About Freedom, and I were chosen to pick one of 8 key values of free speech and media literacy that personally connects with us and can be found most important to us. 

    I chose Individual Self-Fulfillment because I have been through a lot of development that I feel all people should go through separately to form their own opinions.

    

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    History

    Flashing back to December 15th, 1791, was the official ratification of the First Amendment: free speech. From that moment on, freedom of speech became one of the basic American values used by all, whether we recognize it or not. All people use this right to express themselves and share thoughts and opinions; it makes up who we are and sets us apart from one another.

    Freedom of speech has been different from what was provided by other governments in other countries, since they didn't encourage citizens to declare their own opinions about certain things or talk bad/in a way that wasn't accepted by authorities and government expectations.

    One solid example that is known for its lack of citizens' freedom is North Korea. North Korea keeps very strict rules and regulations that could even lead to the death penalty for the most "serious crimes."

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    Personal Instance

    To center more on my personal choice with individual self-fulfillment. Without having my personal opinions and beliefs, I would not have chosen to apply and register for High Point University. This surrounds all growing students as well.

    Freedom of speech is also a current issue, as it has grown lately into a main topic surfacing on social media and in colleges. The new growing generation has some of the most powerful stances, in my opinion, as they all continue to grow and evolve into the next wave of workers and proud career representatives. 

    All waves of students choose their own paths and grow in their own ways, and college assists them in doing so and in continuing to grow. The idea of combining free speech and self-fulfillment becomes a powerful concoction of self-goals; even physical collected data says the same.

This data and evolving discussions prove the significance of free speech in all of our lives.

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Present Examples

   Just to add, another example of conversation regarding the protection of this right is represented by arguments closely related to social media. As I mentioned before, social media is crucial to expressing personal opinions; platforms like Instagram and TikTok do just that, as the apps are filled to the brim with information from thousands to millions of different perspectives. 

Social media

    Some material is still censored by higher-ups, but the will for individuals to continue uploading content and expressing themselves will bring awareness and make progress.

                                               

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Conclusion

    To conclude it all, free speech is how each person finds his or her unique and one-of-a-kind identity.

    With the ability to speak our own minds, asking questions/questioning subject matter, and engage with all materials, each person, young or old, has their own self that is originally theirs. That is why I chose to represent individual self-fulfillment as the most important key value to me.