The idea of free speech has been a cornerstone of American Democracy since its conception and has been fought for throughout American history. The freedom of speech (and the press) act(s) as a safeguard against public manipulation and a repression of dissent, in order to maintain the integrity of our nation: a nation of, by, and for the people must have a constant open and free public discourse. In contemporary American society, the freedom of speech and the press has continued to be a topic of hot debate. Many individuals such as Eugene V. Debs, Carl Oglesby, H. L. Mencken, and Bob Dylan have either fought for or utilized the avenues of free speech to change the status quo. With increasingly indirect and sometimes misleading euphemistic language …show more content…
Debs. However, Oglesby, just as Debs’ and other antiwar individuals during the First World War, were singled out to be the recipients of numerous accusations and negative publicity. Although they were not jailed—for the most part—mainstream media did not abstain from negatively portraying them, just as the media had done during WWI. The difference between these two cases, however, is the fact that large government manipulation of the press and public discourse were not present and information was spread more freely than it had before. Vietnam remains a hugely controversial event in American foreign policy in large part due to the massive public dissent and protest that generated over the course of a decade. It is tempting to consider how American involvement in WWI would have turned out had public expression remained free and without …show more content…
In 1963, Dylan released a song titled, “Only a Pawn in Their Game”, in which he criticized the treatment of African-Americans. Similar to Mencken’s use of humor to voice dissent, Dylan’s use of music also enabled him to spread his message to a wider audience. Dylan is an important example of how the topic of freedom of speech is viewed by modern Americans, in that it adds the element of not only stifling dissent but also individual creativity and expression, which is—in many cases—arguably more concerning to Americans born after the cultural revolution in the 1960s than those who came before. However, music has had a continually influenced the dispersion and expression of dissent for