Example research essay topic: Freedom Of Speech Todays Society - 1,061 words

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It is known and understood that the most common emotion to be felt during the time of war is also the simplest: fear. It is because of the fear extracted from war that our most valued fundamental rights have become questioned, or even abolished. In order to understand why this one simple emotion can cause so much chaos, we must understand the word and how it can be used for right and wrong. The idea of fear is to cause a person to become uneasy about a situation and to become aware of danger; it is a naturally healthy emotion. We as humans have many levels of fear, from the rational fear of pain, to the irrational fear which can become unhealthy and cause violent behavior. With this, fear can be used as a scare tactic in times of war; its become increasingly more inherent over the years.

Rather than focusing the attention of the enemies on soldiers, images are being broadcasted in the news for everyone else to see. To initiate fear into the people, images of Afghanistan celebrating and American flags burning were displayed on every news station on September 11 th. With the images, Americans became disgusted and suddenly the rate of volunteers in the army skyrocketed. From Virginian-Pilot, April 14, 2004, Despite a rising tide of combat deaths and the prospect of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan for years to come, Americans continue to volunteer for duty and are re-enlisting at record rates. Even in a seemingly comedic style, fear is being used on the public in a way to change our views on the adversary. Political cartoons have depicted enemies of war in a comedic way; this is not intended to scare the public, but rather to make the people view the foe as less-than-human.

In doing this, we do not end up feeling sorrow or pity for an individual enemy; we do not see them as individuals anymore. It was because of one cartoon drawing published by the United States during World War II that angered so many Japanese. It was deemed so offensive to the Japanese, that many wrote hate mail in response back to the cartoonist. The cartoonist wrote a response letter in reply the angry group, it is as follows: In response to the letters defending John Haynes Holmes sure, I believe in love, brotherhood and a cooing white pigeon on every mans roof.

I even think its nice to have pacifists and strawberry festivals in between wars. But right now, when the Japs are planting their hatchets in our skulls, it seems like a hell of a time for us to smile and warble: "Brothers!" It is a rather flabby battle cry. If we want to win, weve got to kill Japs, whether it depresses John Haynes Holmes or not. We can get palsy-was afterward with those that are left. -Dr. Suess It is obvious that during war, peoples fear can overtake them. It is obvious that Dr.

Suess viewed the Japanese people as inferior, and regarded them with hate. And with that, he was still criticized for speaking his own opinion and had every right to write his rebuttal letter. The panic brought on by our modern day war has obviously stricken the people of America. But it has now extended beyond the average fear. In post 9 / 11, the idea of Freedom of speech has become as common of a word as autonomy.

Some would say that it is understandable that something like this could happen on a very small scale degree, but when considering the following, something like an average fear has become increasingly out of hand and simple ideas become lost. Katie Sierra is a fifteen-year-old sophomore at Sissonville High School in West Virginia. On October 22, she notified her principal, Forrest Mann, that she wanted to form an anarchist club. He denied her request...

The next day, Sierra came to school with a T-shirt on that said, "Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, I'm So Proud of People in the Land of the So-Called Free. " The principal suspended her for three days... As a result, students at school ganged up on her. "I got shoved against lockers, " she says. "People made pictures of me with bullet holes through my head and posted them on, like, the doors in the school. They said some really harsh things. It was scary. " The fear in todays society has become uncontrollable. More often than it should, certain events can remind us of an equally frightening time in american history. Panic has swept our people so in fact that we start to question our age old rights, such as freedom of speech.

It is not hard to find many people in todays society to considered interior, just because they go about life a different way. Many now are taking a backseat to everybody elses privileges, such as marriage, employment and speaking your own opinions. "I've been talking a lot about the parallels between what we " re going through now and McCarthyism, " says Nadine Strossen, president of the ACLU. "The term 'terrorism' is taking on the same kind of characteristics as the term 'communism' did in the 1950 s. It stops people in their tracks, and they " re willing to give up their freedoms. People are too quickly panicked. They are too willing to give up their rights and to scapegoat people, especially immigrants and people who criticize the war. " With this and in addition to every subject just under discussion, fear is a fascinating emotion; probubally the most difficult to fully understand and to appreciate. But in this, the natural emotion of fear can become dangerous.

A cycle of violence is what should also be feared. Fear may be used to rally support for more extreme measures both upon citizens of America, and upon people of other countries. Yet, using fear in such a way may fuel harsh reactions, leading to further harsh retaliations, and so on. Once again ordinary citizens may suffer the most. If used correctly, it can become a tool.

But should the tool of fear be used in war? Of coarse it should, its one of the best tools we have. But with that comes without mercy a backlash, not on the enemy, but on the very people we try to protect.

Research essay sample on Freedom Of Speech Todays Society