The Price of Freedom

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
--Thomas Jefferson

You won't find his name alongside Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in the history books, but Lenny Bruce deserves a spot in the pantheon of American patriots.

Bruce, if you're unaware, was a comedian who worked in the 1950s and early '60s. His raunchy routines paved the way for comedy legends such as George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Chris Rock. Whereas previous comedians stuck to tried-and-true setup/punch line jokes, Bruce's act mixed stories with commentary on a wide array of hot-button subjects—religion, race, sex, and politics were all fair game. Such frank talk did not sit well with some self-proclaimed crusaders of moral values, however. On more than one occasion, Bruce found himself arrested and charged with breaking obscenity laws. He was banned from performing in many comedy clubs across the country as club owners became fearful of being brought up on obscenity charges themselves. The FBI even went so far as to maintain a file on his activities. The more the government tried to stop him, the more he fought back, filling his routines with profanity-laced descriptions of his court battles. Bruce died in 1966, becoming, as many people saw it, a martyr for free speech.

In many ways, we haven't really progressed that far from the days of Lenny Bruce. The chances of a comedian being brought up on obscenity charges these days are negligible, but there are still those who would prevent others from challenging traditional mores. Today, the issues are more likely to be over such matters as flag burning, access to pornography, and hate speech. In a post-9/11 America, the attacks on free speech seem to be coming at an increased rate. For whatever reasons, politicians and conservative activists are campaigning in record numbers to limit access to many things that they feel to be distasteful.

To be sure, they've realized that free speech is an oppressor's worst enemy.

Attempts to mark human progress have often been based on the weapons and tools used by individuals at various points in history. Thus, the Stone Age gave way to the Iron Age and the Bronze Age as old technologies were refined and new technologies were invented. Much more recently, the 20th century saw the advent of the Atomic Age. Many have referred to modern times as the Information Age, where a person's power is no longer defined by who has the sharpest sword or the most powerful gun, but by who has access to the most information. If you have information, you can control those who do not. Information, truly, is power.

To exert control over others, one needs only to cut off access to information. Burn books. Control the media. Eventually, people will no longer be able to think for themselves. They then become puppets, easily bent to the will of those who control the flow of information. Lies become truth. War becomes peace. Hate becomes love. The truth no longer has any real meaning without an objective means of verification. If Big Brother insists that two and two is five, then it is five.

Thankfully, It works the other way, too. Free speech enables common citizens to keep those who seek to control them in check. It gives David the power to stand up to Goliath. This is why the freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment are arguably the most sacrosanct in all American law. The freedoms of speech and press insure that America's citizens will always be able to express and hear a diverse array of viewpoints, which are vital to reaching an informed conclusion. Unfortunately, these freedoms are being eroded in ways, which, were we talking about the Second Amendment instead, would have Americans literally up in arms.

In just the last few years, the government has proposed all sorts of legislation with the laudable goals of "protecting America" and "fighting terrorism." Legislation such as the PATRIOT Act and, more recently, Real ID pose very real threats to the ability of Americans to remain anonymous in their day-to-day actions. The vast majority of Americans are law-abiding citizens who don't need to have the government monitoring us every step of the way. Where we go, what we buy, who we socialize with, which websites we visit, and what we read are nobody's business but our own. The fact is, life is inherently dangerous and we take certain risks just going about our everyday business. There are, of course, reasonable precautions we all take in our daily lives to make ourselves safer, but one cannot compare taking responsibility for our own safety by making intelligent decisions with allowing the government to monitor us "for our own good." Freedom and security both exist on the same sliding scale, but the trade is never equal. If we volunteer our freedoms in exchange for safety, we will never be happy with the result.

We can always delude ourselves into thinking that this monitoring and censorship protects our children or strengthens national security. In reality, all censorship does is weaken us as a people. We grow poorer intellectually when we can't read a controversial book, criticize our elected officials, or engage in civilized debate for fear that the Thought Police may come for a visit. 1984 was not a just a dystopian fantasy. It was a cautionary tale, written by a man who had seen Europe destroyed by madmen who used the power of their office to strip away the freedoms of the very citizens they claimed to protect. It was written to keep future generations from becoming complacent and allow history to repeat itself.

Perhaps the scariest notion of all is how little anyone seems to care. A recent survey of American high-school students reported that 32% of respondents felt that the press has too much freedom, while 36% agreed that the newspapers should get government approval for each story they propose publishing. These students fail to realize that a free press functions as a check against the government. To require a bureaucratic seal of approval before going to press would essentially make news organizations little more than mouthpieces for the federal government.

In the same survey, a staggering 74% of students felt that burning or defacing the U.S. flag should be criminalized. Military veterans, too, often speak out against flag burning, and their dismay is understandable—countless soldiers in all branches of the U.S. military have died in defense of the flag. This misguided view eschews the basic tenets of free speech entirely, however. Is flag burning a severe act? Certainly. But is it an un-American act? The answer here is no. The American flag essentially symbolizes the freedom to burn the American flag. It is, in a way, the ultimate protest against one's nation, and Americans should have the option of making that protest without fear of retribution. If they can't, then the flag isn't worth the cloth it's made out of.

At very least, we can assume that flag burners deeply care about the direction their country is heading, which is more than can be said for many other Americans. In the last five Presidential elections, only about 55% of Americans eligible to vote bothered to do so (Britain, by comparison, averaged a healthier 69% voter turnout over its last five Parliamentary elections). Turnout in non-Presidential years is even worse. We obviously can't even be bothered to take the time to help choose those who will steer our country in the years to come. The Constitution affords Americans one of the greatest freedoms anyone can ask for—the ability to choose our leaders—and close to 45% of us fail to cast a vote. Is it any wonder that the general public seems to shrug its collective shoulders when the government proposes legislation that strips their freedoms away?

The good news is that we are not too late to act. Americans are still some of the freest people in the world, enjoying liberties that would be unimaginable in many other parts of the world. We can still protect those freedoms guaranteed to us over two centuries ago. All we have to do is care enough to get involved. It can be as simple as becoming an informed voter or as complex as running for office. Read a newspaper. Write an editorial. Meet your congressperson. Join a protest. Criticize your leaders.

Speak your mind.

Lenny Bruce wouldn't have had it any other way.