Reality and Consequences of Free Literary Speech, Essay Example

A political system that does not consent to free and literary speech in the contemporary world is greatly considered as being a government that violates human rights. Such states tend to hold a total control or authority over the society that it governs. This is what is referred to as totalitarianism. It involves governments that always seek to control all the aspects of a community’s life, both the private and public life wherever possible. The reality of and consequences of free literary speech has been witnessed over the years with some countries excelling while others staying stationary, with no change.

Arguably, one country that practices the most appalling violation of human rights is North Korea. The republic of North Korea has in place stringent limitation on the freedom of expression. Most if not all of the information systems set up within the country are greatly controlled by the government. The state-sponsored censorship strategies control the news and the internet. Moreover, every content published independent has to audited and cleared by the government before being aired or distributed to the people.

To this current date, there is no existing indication that the modern North Korea country is working towards a reasonable, open-minded and unprejudiced system. All the evidence progressively collected from the country suggests the government sanctions all the propaganda after inspecting and examining the presented material. In such a country, talking ill about the government is considered to be a great crime.

Russia is one country that has seen a revolutionized system that progressed towards change and acceptance of free and literary speech. The country had and perceived a robust regime that propelled change towards a future of freedom of writing and literal speech. In any given political system, there tends to be a natural tension that always put pressure stuck between the welfares and interests of the state and those of individual. Usually, the interests of the state tended to succeed any other rights.

Taking an example of the pre-Soviet censorship of the czar and the Russian Orthodox Church, one can observe how the rights governing free association have evolved. The writers who were bystanders to these happenings had a long wait to see the rights of free speech come to life in the country. During the reign of Czar Alexis Mikhailovich, laws were put in place to put both male and female homosexuals to death. This was an approach taken by the government with attempts to prevent the practice when started in the 18th century. The hopeful and promising change for liberation was seen in the year of 1991 following the downfall of the Soviet Union (Strossen, pg. 219).

The topic of free literary speech has always set off debates in the contemporary world. One book that underwent criminal or civil obscenity trials in the UK and US includes Henry Miller’s book, Tropic of Cancer. The content of the book was considered both provocative and controversial in the United States of America and England. The obscene content identified for its candid and notorious was not consent by both these countries leading to legal battles that ensued following the publishing and sale of the book. It was not until 30 years after its initial publication that the United States Supreme Court ruled it legal to sell and distribute it in the United States. The credit has to go to the author, Henry Miller, for being an eye opener to free speech and literature in the modern press.

Work Cited

Strossen, Nadine. Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women’s Rights. New York: New York University Press, 2000. Print.