July 01, 2008
The Haleakala Times
by Sam Epstein
Declare your own Independence
There is lots of talk going around Maui these days about free speech. What it is, who is making it, who is abridging it, and about how much should free speech actually cost. Free speech refers to speech being free as in freedom, not free as in lunch, and anyone that practices it typically understands the high cost to ones’ self and ones’ family typically incurred while exercising your “right” to free speech. The very concept of “free” speech can only exist in a culture where there are people who feel the need to abridge the rights of other people, in order to prevent the expression of ideas and arguments that they find threatening.
Freedom of the press extends this concept to the recording and distribution of ideas and arguments throughout a society. However, the very finite resources of a set number of printed pages requires an editorial process that by its very nature will leave out a good percentage of content that otherwise would be suitable for coverage. And as any letter writer (or even mythically Ben Franklin) will tell you, the only way to truly have access to a free press, is to own the press, yourself. These days, the free press is...
Read More...
