Political Extremists
...ctivist group you were prosecuted, exiled to Siberia and sometimes you were even executed. Free speech was non-existent. If we stop certain groups from speaking their opinions and having peaceful rallies we become more communist then democratic. Although stopping extremists from voicing their opinions is a long way from exiling them to Siberia it is still a step towards a communist government. We must allow people, even extremists, to voice their opinions and what they believe. Some people may argue that we need to control extremists to protect society from beliefs of extremists. Again, this isn’t democratic. In a democracy people have the right to receive all the information they can and then make an informed decision. In a communist country the government censors all forms of media. They release propaganda which favors a communist government. The people do not receive all the information about communism. They are blind to the fact that communism isn’t as effective as democracy. We as a democracy have to educate people and let them decide for themselves what they believe in. Another reason to not completely suppress extremist views is that they can change our society for the better. Not all extremists want to change society for the worse. As Martin Luther King Jr. was a radical and he only wanted rights for his people. Jesus was also an extremist wanting to spread joy and love around the world. They were both considered extremist and were criticized for their position. But today they are both considered great men who changed the world for the better. This doesn’t imply that they should be allowed to do whatever they want. Some people say that extremist can do whatever they want to the full extent. This again isn’t right. Although it is the job of a democratic government to allow free speech it is also their job to protect their people from harm. Some extreme groups resort to violence to get what they want. During the 1900s in the southern United States there was a group called the Ku Klux Klan. They were reactionaries not wanting any African Americans to receive any types of rights. They performed many violent acts. They killed many African A...