The Progressive Era

    When exploring the First Amendment and how its evolved, we have seen how antiwar dissent experiences backlash. Americans during World War 1, like Eugene Debs, were sent to jail under the Espionage and Sedation Acts for openly admitting that they were against the war. This shows that there was an obvious blurred line between our debt to national security and free speech. Court cases like Schenck v. United States verify the Supreme Courts support in these ideas, additionally they began the Clear and Present Danger Test in an attempt to limit our right to speech. 

   

    Today, a lot has changed and the First Amendment will definitely protect your opinions on the ongoing war. Yet, antiwar opinions will still most likely never reach mainstream media. Websites like Antiwar.com and The American Conservative give people with those perspectives a platform to voice it, but I’ve never heard of it. I sent the Antiwar website to a few of my friends and a group-chat with my family and asked if they had ever read an article from them. Only one of my friends had ever heard of the website. For some reason, their influence is nothing compared to major news networks like CNN, ABC, or the New York Times. Forcing people to wonder about how (or if) the Marketplace of Ideas really is receptive. 

    There are several reasons to why there’s a blurred line, things I learned were corporate media consolidation. When the news is often going along with whatever the government narrative is at the time, especially when there’s a conflict happening. 

    Journalists of these mainstream media outlets choose what information to disclose in attempts to protect their careers, and views that go against the war are labeled as unpatriotic. This prevention isn’t something that has only happened in the past, it’s relevant in many current events. If we choose to continue to shut out these opinions, there’s a chance we’ll repeat history and enter disputes without thinking about others. If we want to protect democracy, we have to make sure dissenting voices are protected, and even debated/engaged with. 

    When looking at the past and our current condition, the United States definitely struggles with the idea of the Marketplace of Ideas. We need to focus on protecting opinions of everyone, that includes antiwar or dissenting views. This will ensure we stay a healthy democracy.