Eye Opener

An 
Opinion

by Alex Hutchins

In 1972 (newly discharged from military service and returning college student), I started my daily ritual that has continued until this day and will no doubt continue until the day that I stop writing.  And that is to pour myself a cup of coffee and while drinking it, instead of simply putting myself into a state of thoughtful reflection, I write down thoughts that are on my mind at the time and recently have been recording them in a composition booklet.

Some of these thoughts have turned into poems while others have turned into short stories, essays, plays, and become outlines for novels.  Some of these thoughts have been about economics and wealth distribution while others have been about politics, spiritual awareness, manipulation, and/or social consciousness.

This morning, I want to talk about freedom.  While Americans experience more freedoms than those residents of all other nations combined, within the context of those freedoms, they are really not that free at all. 

The Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the US Constitution) are:

1. Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion and Petition
2. Right to keep and bear arms
3. Conditions for quarters of soldiers
4. Right of search and seizure regulated
5. Provisions concerning prosecution
6. Right to a speedy trial, witnesses, etc.
7. Right to a trial by jury
8. Excessive bail, cruel punishment
9. Rule of construction of Constitution
10. Rights of the States under Constitution

My comments are only about the First Amendment and specifically addresses speech but not of the Press, Religion, and Petition.  In other words, an individual’s freedom of speech, which is not about one’s inability to slander another individual, but about one’s ability to be free to say whatever and whenever…  without repercussions…

My concerns extend outward towards the internet where Americans are increasingly posting more and more of their personal feelings on Facebook, Twitter, Chat, etc.  Well, if you have posted something negative about your employer, you run the risk of getting fired.  Or, if you post a negative comment about a “race of people,” you are also likely to run the risk of being terminated by your employer.

In business meetings, if one does not agree with the group or speaks out against the group, one is indeed in jeopardy of maintaining one’s employed status with that company; yet, all Human Resources Departments will tell you that employers want creative, out-of-the-box thinkers. 

So really,  how free are we with our individual freedom of speech Amendment?