The 8 Values of Free Expression

Marketplace of Ideas

        To me personally, the Marketplace of Ideas is the most important value of free expression. I hate liars and value the truth above all else. I always say I would rather know the truth, even if it hurts, rather than be lied to. It's a horrible feeling when you realize you've been lied to so I think that telling the truth will always be better in the end. 

    It's kind of funny when you think about how the truth plays out in the world today. For one, every movie or show is surrounded and based on lies. There is usually one main lie and then a thousand little lies that come up to keep the show going. Every time I watch a show like this, I think to myself, just tell the truth. The characters' lives would be so much easier and less dramatic if they just told the truth. One show that follows lie after lie is Never Have I Ever. The main character, Devi, starts the show by telling her friends one big lie. Then, she continues to spiral into a web of lies to protect the original lie she told. By telling more and more lies, she finds herself constantly losing friends when they find out the amount of lies she has told them. If she had just told the truth, she never would have lost so many people. 

        We also see lies show up in social media a lot more than we realize. Most posts we see by celebrities on Instagram are edited to look so perfect it's almost fake. News flash, it is fake. People are really good at editing and photoshop so when we see older women looking perfect on their Instagrams, we need to remember that they don't actually look that way. Think about when you post on your social media. You always choose the best picture, most flattering filter, and always put your best foot forward. Celebrities do the same thing. They always put their best foot forward, and sometimes go too far with it. They create a life of lies on social media and in public which is why it is so shocking when we find out the truth which then becomes the drama we see on Daily Mail and TMZ. When you think about it, lies fuel the paparazzi and the drama that we all like to read and understand. Paparazzi try their best to capture the truth and even though celebrities know how to put on a poker face in public, they can be caught off guard when they don't see or realize someone is filming them. The drama we hear about and read all comes from the lies celebrities tell on social media. 

        I think if people just told the truth, life would be so much easier and smoother. No one likes to be lied to and it's a terrible feeling when you fin out you have been lied to. Some people may think they can get away with their lies, but I believe that the truth always comes out eventually, one way or another.