Democracy Affecting One’s Ability to Practice Parrhesia
Does free speech still exist in today’s society?
Parrhesia is ordinarily translated into free speech and one who speaks the truth; anyone and everyone, even the bad and evil of people in society. Foucault goes on to say that people will say what is in their mind without having to hide anything and makes sure that his truth is spoken clearly and as an opinion. When speaking about his or her own opinion, they make sure that he himself is the subject of the opinion to which he refers. These people are known as parrhesiastes, in which Foucault explains what they say is true because they believe that it is true. Everyone has an equal right to speak their truth, but parrhesia can also affect the way democracy functions. Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. It is a control of an organization or group by the majority of its members. Democracy has a number of people who govern over the rest of society and decide what is good for the people, but if the people wish to speak their mind, there could be misunderstandings due to everyone having different ideas and meanings to certain issues. Parrhesia allows any citizen, either good or evil, obtain free speech, but when it is introduced into a society governed by democracy, it causes problems and limitations in citizens’ political, social and educational life.
Voting Inequality Through the Electoral College
The electoral college is an indirect system for electing the United States president using Electoral College Votes, which are cast by each state, using a slate of electors that are representatives of each state and members of the Electoral College. Throughout history, only a small number of qualified white, conservative men were allowed to speak their minds and parrhesia was a requisite for public speech and takes place between citizens as individuals and constructed as an assembly, usually done in a public space, also known as an agora. These men had all the power in society and were free to speak their truth to the people they governed and made sure that whatever they decided was good for society, not only benefited them, but also themselves. It is seen as a guideline for democracy as well as an ethical and personal attitude characteristic of the good citizen.
For example, Alexander Hamilton explains in the Federalist Papers, Number 68: reserve the powers of President to a handful of elite individuals seen as “fit” for the office, while protecting against corruption and collision. It is clear to see that democracy has created a group where white men come together to decide what is good for society and do not allow just anyone to speak freely. In other words, Alexander Hamilton believes that democracy has allowed to place power over the people through a number of elite men who are fit for office. He also mentions if population keeps growing in urban cities, the electoral college will give more power to older, whiter and more conservative voters who are in rural states. This instantly wipes out almost half of the votes that are casted in the sense that they ignore votes from a majority of U.S. states and focus mainly on the “swing states”. These men are given the power to refuse and take away someone’s right to vote due to felony charges.
There are Americans who are prohibited from voting in elections due in having criminal offenses in their name. They are seen as bad people in society and do not have a sense of what is good for everyone else; also seen as unfit for deciding what sis good for others. In all of America, there is a total of 6.1 million voters who are prohibited from voting due to felony disenfranchisement. There are still restrictions on those who have served their time in prison and are no longer in probation or parole. They are still considered bad people in the eyes of the society as a whole. In fact, if no states denied convicted felons their right to vote, it is likely the United States would not have a Republican president since 1996.
The Electoral College has set limits in who is eligible in making good decisions for what is good for society due to being “fit” for office and not having felonies in their record, in which this can lead to riots and protests among the people in society.
Protestors Want To Have A Voice Too
People have begun to speak their own truth by protesting against issues they do not support or agree with. They wish to have their voices heard in order to make even a small change in society. For example, people have began protesting against certain immigration reforms that affects not only individual lives, but also separating families because those in power wish to get rid of people who are unfit in society; bringing forth the Muslim Ban and Mexican Deportation reforms.
Protests against Trump’s immigration plan — an executive order barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States—have commenced in more than 30 cities. People began creating picket signs and wanted their voices to be heard as well. Paul Blair, a 35 year old living in Los Angeles shares his experience in writing his own protest signs; “Cruelty is not Strength”. He was one of many who did not support this cruel policy. He states that he had never made a sign before, but his time was different because he felt strong about this policy being too cruel and serves no purpose and does not benefit America. Michelle LaRue, director of CASA Virginia State, states that we will not stop until the executive order is canceled and arrive at common-sense, immigration reform that takes into account the lives of immigrant and refugee families. These protestors have begun protesting at airports and state that they do not want a ban on these people.
Protestors have also spoken out on the immigration reforms against Mexicans being deported because they came here illegally and are causing a problem in society. The LA Times stated that immigration officials began making arrests in Los Angeles to taking illegal immigrants away from the U.S. who have criminal histories. 75% of these arrests showed prior felony charges or convictions, but Marin admitted that a few people were swept up because they were found to be undocumented while other arrests were being carried out. The ICE checkpoints and random sweeps created panic, fear and anger in immigrant communities. Marlene Mosqueda speaks about her father nearly getting arrested and deported when immigration stopped him at one of these checkpoints. She claimed that officials were looking for someone else and as her father fit the description, immigration arrested him and wanted to deport him right away. “With Donald Trump being president, I see no hope for us” — Marlene Mosqueda. The LA Times also stated that these immigration actions were taken upon even before Trump became president and even occurred during Obama’s terms as president where officials would make weekly big operations and arrest people with certain profiles in certain parts of the city.
Even as the people protest against these cruel reforms and want those in power to know how these reforms are hurting their lives, their is little or no change in the minds of those who want these reforms in place and do not allow anyone to speak their truth about their feelings towards these policies.
Public School Officials Decide What Is Taught In Classrooms
Educationally, public school officials usually decide what is appropriate to be taught to the students. In the 1920s, religious fundamentals saw the Bible as the only salvation from a materialistic civilization in decline. This is when the Butler Law was introduced; it forbade the teaching of Darwin’s Theory of evolution in any public school or university. There were some people who did not support religion being practiced in public schools and not Darwin’s theory of evolution. These people wanted to take action into their own hands and make sure that evolution was taught to students. The American Civil Liberties Union offered to fund the legal defense of any Tennessee teacher, public high school or university, willing to fight the law in court. John Tomas Scopes decided to accept the challenge and began reading on the evolution of humankind and Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. He was then later arrested and a trial date was set, in which came to be known as the Monkey Scopes Trial. Scopes was not able to speak freely about the theory of evolution because during this time, religion was the basis of life and evolution was against the idea that God created man and did not come form apes or monkeys. The trial commenced and instead of being a trial against Scopes, it became a trial between Darrow and Bryan. Darrow hit Bryan with literal interpretations of the Bible, after he had lost his main defense of validity of evolutionary theory, and made him stand as an expert of the religious text. The jury sided with the Butler Law and stated that Scopes violated the law statute by teaching that humans descended form monkeys and was fined $100 and released. Victory came upon evolution theory supporters and religious practices began declining.
Throughout history, people believed that religion and the Bible was the base of everyone’s life and that everyone should abide by God’s rules. But as time passed, people began going against the Bible and began speaking their truth about believing in evolution and wanted public school to allow this teaching.
Is Free Speech Really Affected by Democracy?
Free speech should not be seen as a negative action in society because everyone should be able to speak freely about issues they are concerned about. If they are facing oppression due to certain issues affecting their daily lives, then they should be able to unite together and rebel against it. If these individuals keep silent, they are allowing oppression to reign over them and let those in power govern their decisions based on benefitting themselves and no one else. I , myself, encourage everyone to speak their truth and not hide behind their oppressor, but I do also believe that those in power should take into consideration the opinions of their subordinates in society because they know what is good for the people because democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people.
