Thoughts on translating "free speech" -

[Chongqing]

I admit in advance that this is kind of a wacky thought.

Sometimes I anticipate conversations in advance when I'm excited to talk with my family. I go over things I want to tell them and topics I want to bring up.

My family speaks a language other than English. I was thinking recently about how to translate the idea of "free speech" to them.

I was thinking to tell them that in a certain place, there isn't free speech. But, since free speech is a largely American idea, there's no direct translation for it.

"Speech" within itself translates, of course. So I say would that, "over there, speech isn't free." But there's two kinds of free. One of them is free of cost, like when you ask, "how much is it?" and the cashier tells you it's free. The other one is free as in being liberated.

I imagine I would literally say, "over there, speech isn't liberated and it's not without monetary cost." I would include both kinds of free.

This made me consider how, in the digital age, free speech is becoming more and more costly. If you live in China or in a country with authoritarian governments, you do have some free speech, but only to the extent that you pay for your VPN and other tools. It makes me think that as we carry on, free speech may become more of a luxury for the well-off. I hope not, and I know that America would never allow it to happen. But what about everywhere else?

Is freedom becoming less free?

Spoiler: young Xi

 

[Joe Swanson]

Idk anything about gookspeak OP, but it seems like the second concept of free would work, since you are liberated from not being able to speak your mind without legal recourse if you have free speech

 

[The Fool]

Free speech is just the ability to criticize those in power; presidents, law enforcement, whatever. That's all it is.

The US definitely doesn't have free speech. You can be sued for libel by (correctly) calling someone a scammer, you can be jailed for making death threats (which you may or may not agree with). There's actually a lot you can't say in the US. But it's still more liberated than what you're not allowed to say in other countries. Pretty much everywhere else in the world will get you in legal trouble for criticizing those in power or the law enforcement.

 

[Chongqing]

Free speech is just the ability to criticize those in power; presidents, law enforcement, whatever. That's all it is.

The US definitely doesn't have free speech. You can be sued for libel by (correctly) calling someone a scammer, you can be jailed for making death threats (which you may or may not agree with). There's actually a lot you can't say in the US. But it's still more liberated than what you're not allowed to say in other countries. Pretty much everywhere else in the world will get you in legal trouble for criticizing those in power or the law enforcement.

I agree.

But does the monetary cost factor into this more now? I really wonder.

 

[The Fool]

I agree.

But does the monetary cost factor into this more now? I really wonder.

Money is redundant. People in this world get away with outright murder with enough money, money can buy you any legal shielding under the sun; Always has, always will. The current legal system is in place not to prosecute the wealthy, but rather to give the poor a fairer chance at justice.

 

[A Cardboard Box]

I would probably say the speech is "不受阻碍"

That gets the point across pretty well I think.

 

[Sperghetti]

I think in terms of explaining it to your family, just using the second term (liberated) would be the best way to describe the concept itself, since American free speech is more of a legal idea than a social one.

But that is a really interesting point. I think there's always been a monetary element to it, as we also have the idea of "fuck you money", or being rich enough that you don't need to placate other people to get by.

 

[Nick Obre]

Consider that for example, in Spanish, it's "Libertad de expresión". Liberty of expression. You have the liberty to express your opinions and feelings about whatever. That way the idea of monetary cost in "free" doesn't enter the equation (incidentally, Libertad has nothing to do with Gratis/Gratuidad, which is the monetary "Free" in Spanish) .

 

[Chongqing]

I think in terms of explaining it to your family, just using the second term (liberated) would be the best way to describe the concept itself, since American free speech is more of a legal idea than a social one.

But that is a really interesting point. I think there's always been a monetary element to it, as we also have the idea of "fuck you money", or being rich enough that you don't need to placate other people to get by.

"Fuck you money" is a good point. I didn't even think of that.