Apparently we don't really want freedom of opinion

Freedom of Speech, Expression and Opinion is something mankind seems too ill-equipped and too immature to have.

We will shout what we think, and pan widely all which does not agree, never opening up a fair discussion. We mistreat our freedom, by insulting, threatening others with different opinions, dismissing their arguments, basically taking away the freedom of opinion from our opponents. We actually are not interested in freedom of everyone’s speech, just our own. We want the certainty that other people hear us and do as we say accordingly.

We also apparently are not interested in taking responsibility for what we say. What we say is more important than what (bad) things might happen after. And if something bad does happen, suddenly we marginalize what we said in the first place: we didn’t expect things to escalate in such a way, or it wasn’t meant this way, or it was misinterpreted etc. 

We don’t take the time to form well-formed arguments. A tendency that grows, the more information we have to digest on a daily basis: there’s simply less time to think about and verbalize an argument. Some discussions touch real fundamental topics, which require a significant amount of time to fully constitute. However now we can hardly spend 140 english alphabet characters to form an argument. So the only thing people can do now is 1) make statements instead of arguments, and 2) make ‘em loud and controversial in order to stand out among the myriad other messages that are launched into the ether.


True freedom of opinion means having the opportunity to form your own opinion and continuously do so. The objective is not to convert as many people to follow your opinion, but to gather and exchange as much information, experience, and opinion as possible, arguing fairly, justly, with dignity and class to shape yours accordingly. 


True freedom means not being forced into having one or another opinion, but getting to one naturally through your own thought process and/or value system. True freedom is also growing, maturing, contributing, experiencing and living lives, and all the while having opportunities to change minds, yourself and others.


Until we understand freedom of speech, expression and opinion in this way, and remove ourselves from the damaging behaviours we exhibit (not taking responsibility, not opening discussions, not having good and fair discussions), I don't see we are mature enough as a species to have this at all. In fact, we probably don't want it in the first place.