Freedom - Teacher Talk

Priyanka Patel

Freedom of expression is enshrined in the article 19 of the UNITED NATIONS Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It discusses in broad terms the human rights that each of us has. This is protected legally by various international treaties. Freedom of expression also underpins other human rights such as the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. It is also closely linked to freedom of association - the right to form and join clubs, societies, trade unions or political parties with anyone you choose; and freedom of peaceful assembly. free press reporting on the issues that interest us and shape our lives is a key building block of any rights-respecting society. Freedom of speech, or freedom of expression, applies to ideas of all kinds, including those that may be deeply offensive. While international law protects free speech, there are instances where speech can legitimately restricted under the same law – such as when it violates the rights of others, or, advocates hatred and incites discrimination or violence. The Digital Frontier - But freedom of expression today still often depends on... wealth, privilege and our place in society. Those who are rich and powerful are seldom restricted in expressing their views.. Similarly, those who have their own laptops with broadband, have far greater access to information than those who have to walk miles to an internet café. Have you ever thought what does the word “freedom” mean? I think it is quite an abstract thing which is different for each individual. For example, for me, freedom means doing something that I want if it doesn’t harm other people. However, it cannot be described in simple words, because the word itself contains numerous deeper meanings. It depends on the individual understanding of freedom, and each of us understands it in different ways. Someone thinks that the freedom is connected with the right to say anything the person wants without a fear of being punished or restricted of doing so. Others think that freedom is connected in walking anywhere they want. Some people think that freedom is your right to choose the government. But no one can say, what is the freedom itself? And in my essay, I have decided to drive deeply into the issue of freedom definition and share my thoughts what does freedom actually means. I agree that freedom is the right to speak and do everything you want, but only when it doesn’t limit others rights and freedoms. Numerous countries don’t have freedom for their citizens. People are not allowed to criticize their government and cannot freely express their opinion on public. And when they are trying to say something different from the opinion of their government they are being punished. There, people can be fined or imprisoned because of their will to have freedom. When I hear the word freedom from others, I am thinking about the freedom of choice. This meaning of freedom is easy to understand. People usually connect it with the elections. When there are several politic.........................................................

parties to choose from the person experiences freedom when choosing the one he or she believes in most. Of course, there are countries where politics is connected with the criminal world, and their people don’t have freedom of choice because of corruption, and their choice was paid for by someone else. But there are people who in these countries fight for liberty and sometimes they are changing everything. Like it was in Georgia and then in Ukraine, because their people understood what freedom is and that the choices they made before were not right. Freedom can also be connected with the right of opening your own business and gain the financial independence. You can produce goods and services and work on your own. But in corrupted countries, I think it is impossible to open your own business without criminal support. That is because the economy of such countries is not healthy and competition is not connected with marketing and advertising activities, but in real money, which you are ready to pay corrupted law enforcement officers and criminals to start your business and then maintain it. And countries, where freedom is respected, provide equal opportunities for all. In this particular case, freedom is joined with financial wellness. There are also cases when freedom means the right to say “no”. If you don’t agree with the government decision, community decision or another person decision you can say “no”. You don’t need to follow these decisions and you will never be punished for that. But this works only in cases when your ideas and actions do not violate the law and won’t cause harm to the people around you. So what does freedom mean to me? At my opinion freedom can be connected with not following standard our society has. Freedom is something beyond stereotypes and templates and real personal freedom is a strong opportunity to express yourself in any possible way. Tattoos, piercing, hair style or clothes, we are free to wear or do anything with our body, and this is our freedom of expression. People why are thinking beyond stereotypes understand and respect that freedom. Freedom is a way of thinking and understanding world around us, and each person understands it in his or her own way, and of course all of us has an own understanding of it. And each of us in some cases needs to fight for this freedom. I am also thinking that freedom is actions of individuals who don’t need to ask themselves “why?” and just do things they love to do. Freedom is the absence of borders; you can feel freedom in your mind and freedom around you. Imagine that you are at the mountain peak and the world is a small point at the bottom. Do you feel freedom surrounding you? I can bear that you are! That is the real freedom which has a smell of wind and mountains, the skies in front of you. Birds are free to fly anywhere, and I can say for sure that you can also choose your own route. So freedom can be connected with anything, either actions or thoughts and each person free to express his or her freedom if it doesn’t limit or violates the rights of others. Freedom is around us, and our understanding of this word is different but always closely connected with people around us. Freedom to choose, freedom to do, understand, think, get or any other verb we can insert after the word freedom. It is great to have freedom and a lot of people are still fighting for their freedom. And I hope they will soon get it in one or another way.

The world without freedom is too cruel to live in, and if I had no freedom, I would probably be depressed with its absence.

Priyanka Patel