“The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States states that Congress shall make no law. . . restrict freedom of “speech” (“Freedom of Expression”). It has been proven by the legal system that speech goes far beyond regular verbal communication (“Freedom of Speech”). If this is true, why is there so much controversy over free speech? If the right to free speech is taken away, the government will become more and more powerful until it controls every facet of life. Although the United States prides itself on being a staunchly democratic nation, it is no better than a tyrannical government if it steals its citizens' right to free speech. Most people do not want to live in a society oppressed by an all-powerful government that gives them very little freedom. Taking Orwell's society as a model, a government that has too much power will happily let its citizens endure pain, suffering, and even torture. For society to be productive, people must be allowed to express their ideas and thoughts. If they cannot, civilization will go backwards instead of forwards. The issue of freedom of expression is not a new problem. In fact, people have been debating this for years, even at the Supreme Court. One such case is Schenck v. United States, where it was found illegal for Schenck to distribute pamphlets urging people to obstruct the project development process ("Schenck v. United States"). The Supreme Court ruled that Schenck doing this was illegal and he was convicted, but in another case involving free speech, the court took the opposite side. In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, a school banned students from wearing a black armband...... middle of paper ...... has been forwarded. Living an emotionless existence is surely not living at all, and that is why freedom of expression should be a guaranteed right. This is very important for a functioning society where people are entitled to their opinions and are able to freely offer constructive criticism. When it is removed, oppression, poverty and the general degradation of society appear in abundance. A society in which people are allowed to express what they think is infinitely better than an Orwellian society in which people feared having thoughts that might be undesirable to the government. A terrible place if one wasn't even safe in one's mind. Today's world is a place where everyone can express themselves freely. Everyone deserves the chance to get their ideas across, and to deprive them of that opportunity is borderline inhumane. It is simply immoral to deny this right.