Why Freedom of Speech Affects Quality of Life?

Let’s start by saying not everyone in the world has freedom of speech. Does it sound astonishing? Living in western countries, one may not sometimes fully appreciate the freedom we have. The right to say what we feel and live the life the way we want to live. This freedom of speech is key to quality of life. According to Wikipedia, “Quality of life (QOL) is the general well-being of individuals and societies, outlining negative and positive features of life.” Also, quality of life is one or the 10 drivers to find fulfillment in life. So freedom of speech is a positive feature in our lives and needed for the wellbeing of the individuals and societies. In this post, I’ll share why freedom of speech affects quality of life.

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”

– Benjamin Franklin

What is Freedom of Speech?

According to Wikipedia, “Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction.”

Do You Have Freedom of Speech?

Then the follow-up is, do you have freedom of speech in the country you live? So does your government allow you to be free to articulate your opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanctions? The answer to that question is not straightforward. Hence, it is a complicated topic.

There are countries where you cannot speak anything against the government or its policies. Even if the decisions the government makes puts the well-being and lives of its citizens at stake. Does it sound familiar? Because if you do, there may be immediate retaliation, censorship or legal actions. And also there are countries wherein there will probably be retaliations, if not immediately. Then there are countries where governments intermittently impose bans on internet and phone services to prevent spread opinions. This is especially in areas that are so called “troubled areas”.

The freedom of speech could differ from country and it could be and in varying degrees. So this is something to think about. Then how much freedom you have in your country to say freely what you want to say?

Why Freedom of Speech Affects Quality of Life?

Then the question is why freedom of speech affects our quality of life? Quality of life is the general wellbeing of individuals and societies. And we can outline them through the positive and negative features of life. So is freedom of speech a feature of life? Does it really improve our quality of life? Would we prefer to live in a country or region that allows freedom of speech? Let’s try to understand some of the key reasons freedom of speech affects quality of life.

Happiness

Can we be happy if we cannot express our opinions freely? The answer is likely not in most cases unless we are struggling for our basic needs. And then freedom of speech is less of an impact on our well-being. Do you agree? If we see the top 10 countries in the world that rank highest in happiness index, then it is quite clear why freedom of speech matters. The top 10 happiness index countries being Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Ireland and United States.

Health

Then, how does freedom of speech affect our health? Or does it? Did you know that our mind connects with our body? If our mind is at peace with ourselves, how does it feel? Also, feeling good and being happy reduces stress. So a happy mind and reduced stress help with peace of mind. Peace of mind helps us to sleep well. Lower stress, better sleep improves our health. Reduce cholesterols and probabilities of heart disease. Also, that could reduce obesity.

And of course, there could be anxiety from repression of airing your thoughts against any government policies or actions. This could be during unprecedented times like pandemics or aftermath of wrong economic decision.

Education

The governments many times control the education that we receive in any country. So if the government restricts freedom of speech, there is a likelihood there may be an influence on education. The governments may want to control what its citizens learn, especially subjects around history, geography, politics, and religion. So there might be questions on fact based learning or biases. Subsequently, it may influence the way its citizens think, behave, react, and decide. Education shapes our thinking and then molds us to what we become in life as we grow.

Corruption

Corruption and inequality in any country mostly go hand in hand. Even if any country has significant overall GDP, unless it reduces corruption, there is likely going to be inequality. That means the gap between rich and poor mostly widens. Then how does freedom of speech affect corruption? Corruption is usually a product of a lack of transparencies. And freedom of speech fosters transparency. Inclusiveness. And development of all. Versus a few.

Productivity

Then what about productivity? Could freedom of speech impact productivity? If we measure productivity of any country by GDP per capita, then we could likely see a corelation happiness and GDP per capita. And that could explain some sort of relationship between freedom of speech and productivity. But why should productivity corelate with freedom of speech? It is because of inequality, mostly.

Innovation

We often say diversity and inclusion drives innovation. Why do we say that? This is because a country that embraces people from different cultures and beliefs can bring divergent perspectives together. Which drives innovation. Without freedom of speech, we can cannot have divergent opinions shared freely. That too, without fear of retaliation or censorship.

Self Actualization

At the pinnacle of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we have self actualization. It symbolizes the ability to realize our full potential. It also aids our journey towards finding fulfillment in life. We can probably realize our full potential if we live in a society that promotes free sharing of ideas and thoughts. We can debate this, but the chances are that the odds lie more for freedom of speech.

Do You Have a Choice?

Finally, do you have a choice? To choose the country you live in. Then the question could be why should I leave my country to have more freedom of speech? Is it worth it? Well, the choice is ours. And it depends on what we want from our lives. Also, what future we want to give to our next generations?

Conclusion

Why freedom of speech affects quality of life is an intriguing topic. And we can put forth many arguments, both for and against. But regardless of the choices we have, we should speak up. In the best interests of humanity and our world.