The Freedoms of Speech.

When freedom of speech is such a common rallying cry I have to ask the question of what is it? Bare with me as fundamental and basic questions often yield surprising results, and with Freedom Of Speech we are talking about a basic building block of all modern human societies. All over the planet it is under attack whilst in other parts of our world it is being abused appallingly, closer afield it has become manipulated and we have over the last few decades seen a retranslation of it’s basic meaning, that modern review is now very far away from the initial meaning it had, in it’s point of legal origin in the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights. (UDOHR) I am an atheist, and my personal bible has and probably always will be the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, I read it fully, then I read it again and again. After a lot of deep thought I chose it as my personal bible, decided to follow the rules of it, because it is simply the best thing written by humans for humans, that and the fact that I am not cut out to become an atheist buddhist resulted in my decision. It guarantees my rights as a Steve as much as it does your own rights, everyone you know or don’t know is protected by it’s articles too, even if they haven’t read it, every single human being is covered by it, because it is universal. But you cannot look at any single article of the UDOHR in isolation, and this is a key point of this word string you are reading. I am going to start at the end of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights with article 30.

“Nothing in this declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.”

Every single right in the UDOHR is interconnected like psychological lego bricks, glued together in a legal mutually protective chain of rights. You cannot cherry pick this document because of the brilliance of article 30. As an atheist allow me to pick article 18. “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, or observance.” So rolling onto article 19. “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Which leads to article 20. “1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. 2. No one may be compelled to join an association.” But lets not forget article 3 here because. “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person.”

My freedom of speech comes with a responsibility for my words, it is in context to the rest of this declaration, all freedom of speech has that responsibility attached, it is imbued in our rights. Looking at the polarisation of our world can I say politicians share that responsibility? Looking at the current pandemic we are all facing, can I claim that the anti lockdown, anti vaccination, pandemic conspiracy movements, claiming that an outbreak on this global scale is a hoax, whilst declaring that their freedom of speech and movement outweigh the basic right to life for others have that right? Recently this movement has been invading NHS hospitals, there has been violence, people have been hurt, intimidated and had their basic human rights abused in the name of freedom of speech. If you believe that vitamin C will save you, yes you have that right to believe it, if you believe vaccinations are dangerous then yes you have the right to believe it, freedom of thought is guaranteed, but you do not have the right to endanger others, you do not have the right to deny others healthcare options, your freedom of speech cannot be exclusively detrimental to any of the other human rights. Basically if the content of your freedom of speech denies the human rights of others, then you can Foxtrot Oscar with it. If like me you are in lockdown at this time, and have lost the right to movement, that is not a human rights abuse, because everyone has the right to life and by staying put at this time we may be saving our own and many other peoples lives. Simple, an interpretation of UDOHR, balanced in the context of all of it’s 30 articles. However in our voter conscious politicians, none have really attempted to tackle the issues that the anti lockdown movement have created, because many of our politicians have abused freedom of speech equally as well.

We all watched Trumpist fanatics take over Washington DC recently, but in Britain we seemed to have forgotten that this was a regular occurrence in pre pandemic London. Right wing white supremacists created no go areas with their protests, up to and including the whole of Parliament Square. Their freedom of speech was the only thing that mattered, violence was a norm too, and when encountering racists, what do the other articles of UDOHR state. Article 1. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with dignity and conscience and act towards one and other in the spirit of brotherhood.” Or article 2’s opening. “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration, without distinction of any kind.” Racism by it’s very nature acts against the rights of others, stripping human rights away from people because your freedom of speech is more important is actually incompatible with human rights. You cannot use human rights to take away human rights. In a world of labels, where politicians play with lives haphazardly, without responsibility for their often divisive words, is it any surprise that freedom of speech has mutated into an unfathomable mess. Every word you have just read may be responsibly put but is it even relevant, when freedom of speech has become nought more self justifying political gibberish. Where globally too many politicians use their freedom of expression to abuse the human rights of others. In the words of the UN General Assemblies preamble.

“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” Or. “Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.” I believe in freedom of speech, it is essential, but it is not in isolation, it is not a singular freedom, it is not a freedom that can be used to strip the rights from others. It is not a freedom for shareholders to fund liars about climate change so they can get a few decades of profits, decades that have now taken the right to life from too many people, it is not a freedom for political agendas to strip the rights from immigrants or other human beings, it is not a freedom to spread spite or lies, lies that strip rights away from others. Freedom of speech is a privilege that comes with a responsibility for your words, it is a noble obligation of humanity.

“Now, Therefore the General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration Of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.”

This I believe in. This I chose to strive for in my own way. This is not about you or me, this declaration is for all of us. Every child, every woman and every man. All human beings. Freedom itself is on one level self respect, and respect. Google the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, it is on almost every United Nations website, do not view any one of your rights in isolation, because a human being is all of them, look at your world, see it as it is, and know that we as a species are very far away from the UDOHR ideals, but they are ideals truly worth striving for. Above all else read it, and embrace this simple concept. “All Human Beings.” All of us, because if you are reading these words you are human. Freedom of speech has caused damages throughout our history, not because of literacy being inherently evil, but because truth is inherently opaque. Take responsibility for your words, and own them, know that they are a privilege, an obligation and that they may have weight, but when you understand them in context to all your other rights, your words may well improve everything around you. So I will end with article four, because when imprisoned mindsets speak they will inevitably incarcerate themselves and others, which is the opposite of freedom. That is the truth of these words, freedom is a right, and, you cannot use your freedoms to deny freedom to others.