On December 19th, 2021, Taj Ji Men San Jose Qigong Academy hosted an online forum to discuss “the Free Speech vs the Fragile Ego.” Free speech is one of the basic human rights that everyone, at least in democratic countries, should all have. People have fought for this fundamental right from time to time. In the United States, in particular, the free speech movement started in 1964. At the University of California, Berkeley, thousands of students insisted that the university should lift the ban on campus political activities, acknowledge their right to free speech and academic freedom. Andrea, Jason and Andrew, college students , joined the panel discussions. They all strongly agreed that free speech is very important. As Andrew stated, free speech allows for different perspectives on certain issues, and it can call out problematic situations, social boundaries and help.
During the forum, a video was presented. A lady was arrested simply because she held a sign standing on the sidewalk, protesting quietly about a tax rule in Taiwan. Obviously, the government was afraid of something, they were afraid that the other citizens would hear something that they wanted to hide––they have some sort of fragile ego.
After watching the video, Andrea expressed that she believed the Taiwannes government was afraid of potential issues being brought to light because this probably wasn’t the only case in which the government has been unjust to a certain group. Others who see this might begin to stand up for themselves and speak out against the government.
Jason shared some of his experiences. Some types of free speech do make him uncomfortable and fearful because of uncertainties such as public shaming.
Yi-Chuan concluded that exposure to those various speeches and arguments, as long as they are rational and legal for students, can make them more mature over these controversial debates or protests.
