The Importance Of Freedom Of Speech

I was watching documentaries today, and the content of the documentaries really got me thinking about the importance of freedom of speech. One featured very guarded and tentative criticisms of the government's lack of environmental consciousness, while the other was an outright criticism of another administration's failures.

Indeed, the practical value of freedom of speech is limited to the administration's willingness to listen. If the people speak up and the comments are deemed undesirable for any reason (stupid, inappropriate, untenable or seditious, for example), obviously nothing would be done about it. Indeed, it is also possible for the admin to pay lip service to the comments, and do nothing about it at all.

Yet, one should not discount the value of free speech. In the absence of commentary on the lack of environmental consciousness, valuable biodiversity could have been lost. Corruption could go unchecked. Incompetence could have been swept under the carpet. Indeed these will be criticisms of the admin, and can be interpreted by those in power as seditious by virtue of the comments being damaging to the admin's reputation and therefore destabilizing the country by increasing discontent.

However, the truth of the matter remains. It is an irresponsible admin that ignores its own flaws. In fact it is no less than treason on the part of the leaders. One need only look towards the collapse of dictatorships to see how the minds of leaders can be poisoned by the ignorance that they themselves encouraged in a bid to cling on to power. It does not suffice to have free speech alone. What is needed is a listening ear, and an inclination towards reform that accompanies it.