The Progressive Era

 

 The first amendment and most importantly freedom of speech is known to get damaged at most during times of war. This pattern is repetitive throughout history in places without freedom of speech but is pretty ironic coming from the American government that swore to protect civilians’s individual rights. 

Not only are these individuals arrested and their freedom of speech taken, they are also portrayed as traitors and people who don’t “love” their country. Why? 

        How can a group of individuals with simple ideas and speeches  threaten the American government so much? 

                The truth is…There were A LOT of people who shared those anti-war voices but it was in the American government’s best interest to continue with the war. 

According to www.cnn.com "33% said they favored the war in Iraq, 64% opposed, and 3% was undecided. The margin of error was plus or minus 3%".  Another poll made by cbsnews also shows that By a margin of more than two-to-one (51% to 22%), Americans think the U.S. should have stayed out of the conflict, versus those who believed the "did the right thing" by participating in the war. Roughly a quarter of respondents (27%) had no opinion.

   These are so pretty drastic measures to take against freedom of speech which only proves the power it holds. The American government silenced anti war voices because the people disagreed with what the government was doing and were demanding change. But what about today? We rarely hear  of someone getting thrown in jail for writing a speech or an article in this country…Well that’s because the American government discovered a new modern way of keeping anti war voices silenced: If you don’t know what your government is doing in other places, how are you going to protest it? 

The average American has no idea what their government is doing around the world but is it their fault? In reality we wouldn’t know anything that's happening internationally if it wasn't for the media. So why aren’t they doing their job here
? Why does the American media only report on government action inside the country when they have such an important presence internationally? 

The good news is, there are still a few people doing that job: Websites like www.antiwar.com who educate Americans on their governments actions and give people an opportunity to oppose these decisions, it also lists all the different locations America is having an impact on like China, Indonesia, Iraq, Latin America, Africa…

The American government and people made one thing clear throughout history and it is the power of words. As long as there are people writing and voicing their opinions there will be hope for change.