Post Four: Antiwar Voices & Anti "Fake" News

This week we talked about life following the end of WWI. People were tired of the war and talking about it was triggering (kind of how I feel with coronavirus - ha!). Then we led into prohibition and just more divide and hardship. Life during and after this war, individuals were persecuted for any antiwar talk.

Skimming Antiwar.com and American Conservative, I found it quite interesting to read a dialogue so drastically different than that of mainstream media today. Most news today (even with each network's biases) portrays the world through certain lenses. Regardless of how news may "lean," there is still a certain level of political correctness prevalent throughout.

Donald Trump is notorious for his attack on "fake news." I'm not here to get political at all, but I think he makes a very important point that as Americans we should caution ourselves with. Everything we hear is filtered and filtrated to some degree. I think it is hard to come to your own conclusions when approaching current events because everything is told to us through a narrative of how the author wants us to comprehend the information. 

While we never seem to hear about these strong voices on mainstream news, I think it is wonderful that there is a place for them to exist. This doesn't mean that I agree with what is being said, I just find it important that all voices have the ability to be heard. It causes me distress sometimes by the lack of information I can find on certain topics because of media censorship - but this is off topic and I digress.

I think you have to seek out antiwar voices because the government needs the overwhelming support of citizens when it comes to things such as war. 

Post Three: Bedrock Principles & TikTok Ban

This week in class we studied the six freedoms of the first amendment in-depth by looking at the Civil War + Reconstruction timeline and the 3 freedoms of the First Amendment and the bedrock principles of the First Amendment law. 

Prior to this course, I think I was pretty ignorant when it came to what is included versus what is not included when looking at the Freedom of Speech. Now, I firmly believe most people are. 

The Six Freedoms include From Religion, Of Religion; Speech, Press; Assembly, and Petition.

The Bedrock Principles are something completely new to me that I had never studied before, and it really helps to delve deeper into the first amendment. 

The first principle is that First Amendment protection is not absolute. This means that you can be punished and held accountable for threatening the president or public safety.

The second principle is that the First Amendment is not a shield against the law of general applicability. This means that for some laws, there is no exception. Everyone is held accountable for criminal and traffic laws.

The final principle is that the Freedom of the Press is a fundamental personal right, not an institutional one. This is the strongest type of right because it is specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights. We are all equally protected.

The first amendment condones that Congress shall make no laws infringing on personal liberties, but obscenity, fraud, child pornography, and true threats are not given protection under the First Amendment. 

VARIETY.com recently published an article about Trump's banning of TikTok. Critics of this ban say that this decision is made without precedent, and others flat out claim that this abridges First Amendment rights. This decision is made with the Trump Administration's concern that the Chinese government will be able to access Americans' personal data through this app. 

I find this whole topic very fascinating because it is a bit unprecedented. As technology evolves, the dangers and risks on society change. This is crazy to me because I never really thought the First Amendment was still controversial today, but honestly, it is more relevant and critical than ever before. 

The claim to ban TikTok is out of concern for national security and personal safety, yet it an act of the Government controlling its people. Where do we draw the line? This entire controversy has made me really question the amount of personal privacy in my own life, and I am more than guilty of falling down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories about our phones listening to us and personal data being hacked. 

I can honestly say that I do not have a strong opinion either way on this TikTok ban, but I am very intrigued as to what will happen.

Source: Variety.com

Post Two: U.S. Supreme Court

This week in class, we learned so much about the U.S. government, branches of government, and allocation of power. We specifically focused on the Supreme Court. It's been since high school since I've had any class on U.S. government, and it's been since middle school that I truly comprehensively studied the branches of government. This was a good (and very necessary) refresher.

In class, we discussed the "formula for American democracy" which explains how we shift power from federal level to state level to power in the hands of each individual. Professor Smith discusses how America is the only country that at its core believes in limited government. We have enumerated powers which means the powers of each government entity is written out and assigned. The government gets its power through the consent of the people, and these powers tell the government what they can and cannot do. American democracy believes in freedom maximization for its people. We want the largest amount of freedom for each individual without interfering with another person's freedom. Professor Smith coined this "ordered liberty."

The Supreme Court is the Judicial branch of the United State the highest court in the United States, and its main role is to guard and uphold the Constitution. It manages cases appealing to the Constitution and has the authority to prevent laws that are unconstitutional. Many of the Supreme Court decisions are made by the nine justices that make up the court. These justices are appointed by the president. However, the Senate can block the appointment. This means that filling the nine justice spots when one becomes available often becomes cut-throat and political. **I watched this video  and found it super helpful. It is a quick 2-minute video that simplifies everything, and a great watch if you have a couple minutes to spare in your day. 

The Supreme Court is very important to our daily lives as American citizens. Their role ensures that the First Amendment remains protected and after this week's class, I'm much more aware of just how important the role of the Supreme Court is in American democracy.

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Sources: Supreme Court History, Newsweek Video