Commentary: Celebrating free speech on the 4th of July
Free Speech. The best thing I like about DavidsonNews.net, is that it allows everyone an opportunity to say their piece. So in celebration of Independence Day, and the rights it stands for, I would 
like to congratulate DavidsonNews.net on the truly patriotic mission it has undertaken. It represents the best possibilities of technology and the Internet in service of humanity.
Over the year and a half since its inception, I have written comments on DavidsonNews.net. They are usually dashed off conversationally, in the belief that when people take the time to create an original idea and present it to the public, they should be recognized for that effort. They are oiling the mechanism of free speech, a human right recognized by our founders, which can only survive with frequent exercise.
Occasionally, a friend or acquaintance will mention one of my comments. This surprises me, because even though DavidsonNews.net encourages public comment, precious few of the thousand or so people who read it each week actually comment. I used to assume the sparse comments meant people are mostly ambivalent about the news delivered on the site. However, when someone calls from a car window, or taps my arm in the grocery, or pauses at my lunch table to tell me they enjoyed a comment, that tells me there is more opinion than I thought.
FREE SPEECH IS FREE
When I ask them to share their thoughts with everyone, I frequently get the deer-in-the-headlights stare that says, “Oh no, not me.” It’s a little strange. There is no penalty for speaking out on local issues in Davidson. If you criticize town government, it won’t stop picking up your trash, or the police won’t start picking on you. In some countries, speaking against the government will get you threatened, jailed, maybe tortured. And maybe because I speak nearly every day with journalists in Afghanistan who have fled for their lives, and face physical violence and threats, I feel it is ever more important not to be complacent about free speech.
I have a son in the Army who spent a year in Afghanistan, most of last year in Iraq, and goes back to Iraq in a few months, for yet another year. If he’s putting his life on the line everyday to bring the same rights we enjoy to people who are burdened by threats and violence because of what they say or write, then the very least I can do is exercise that right—and encourage others to do the same, as much as I can.
It is heart-breaking to think that people in our country are fearful when it comes to free speech. For sure, there are reasons. Many work in government, and for some weird legal reason can’t speak out in print. Many work for businesses or non-profits who would frown if an employee’s opinion went against the grain of the bosses or shareholders or directors. Others might be afraid that their friends and neighbors will know what they really think. Sadly, this is what I hear from people who live in totalitarian cultures.
This Independence Day 2008, I hope people will resolve to speak out more; to honor the Mecklenburg Declaration and the Declaration of Independence, and those who speak so bravely through their presence in dangerous places far from home. It is important to speak out and respect those who do. History teaches that silence does not provide safety, it only invites abuse.
Comments welcome!
Bob Maier lives on Walnut Street and is a regular contributor to DavidsonNews.net.
Filed under: Davidson opinions, Davidson town board
