The value that resonates with me the most is the seventh value, Promote Innovation. As someone who wants to go into a creative industry after graduation this value is the most important to me. If the government had the power to control what media was made and seen. Life would be boring and honestly not worth living. I need creative outlets to function from day to day. Not just the ability to create media, but to watch things that have already been made. If the seventh value did not exist we would be a very angry society. If the right was ever taken away, people would start underground newspapers, and start a protest against the government to not silence them. In the 1960’s and 70’s there was just that, an underground press that gave a voice to people that did not have one. People all over the United States would freely express themselves. As you went from city to city, thoughts changed. For example people in Baltimore would express their frustrations with war. People in Minot, North Dakota worked to destigmatize mental health for women and members of the LGBT community. These were things that at the time, could not be expressed freely but that never stopped anyone from speaking their mind. With the seventh value people don’t need to be so secretive anymore. Another benefit of the underground press, it shaped how the aboveground press would be run. At that time it was newspapers but as we know newspapers would eventually evolve into the social media we have now. It is crazy to think that people felt the need to go against this value to protect themselves from public scrutiny. Despite the value clearly stated, “citizens actively fulfill themselves in many diverse and interesting ways” Anytime anyone brought up something that was ‘diverse’ and went against the conservative majority, there was shame and silencing. Although it has gotten better by today's standards, the sixties and seventies were not that long ago. My parents grew up in a time where free speech wasn’t always the right thing to do.
A second value that resonates with me is the sixth value: Promote Tolerance. While the value I previously talked about people having the right to express themselves creatively. This value talks about ALL people having that right. This is probably one of the most important values on this list. The seventh value becomes completely useless without this one. Because what is the point of free expression if it only applies to SOME people. I have been lucky that in my lifetime I have seen people of all kinds freely speak their mind when they felt the need to. This is mostly thanks to the power social media has granted us. Anyone has the ability to make a profile and express themselves. For better or for worse, with political tensions rising in the United States, this value really comes into play. Everyone can freely express their opinions on an issue without fear of being silenced by a majority that does not agree with them. Tolerance as a whole is something that our society has really struggled with over the years. But as time has gone on, we have actually moved beyond just tolerance, but moved on to acceptance.
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