*FREEDOM OF THOUGHTS*

ADVANCED CAPITALIST SOCIETIES claim to give a high degree of freedom of speech. Yet, subtle curbs on freedom of thought, and hence indirectly on speech, are present, too.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH via media and other fora is a basic right increasingly under threat, the world over. Oddly, the threats in the Developing World -

Emanate not from manifest state bodies as elsewhere, but hidden ones. In fact, even the former seems threatened by the latter and seems hapless to protect society from such threats.

Eminent analysts the world over, like I.A.Rehman have already written against these curbs and I cannot add to their sharp analysis.

But the deeper question for me is whether we really have freedom of speech even sans these curbs,  for speech merely expresses human thought.

If thought is not free, can speech be free?

But few write about curbs on thought which differ from those on speech. They are more subtle and hidden. While curbs on speech ebb and flow in intensity, curbs on thought are more ongoing and even.

Curbs on speech occur mostly in authoritarian states; those on thought are more widespread and exist in a advanced capitalist states too.

We gather information from our environment {via reading and listening} process it internally [via thought] and then express it [via speech].

Speech of course is severely curbed in many states.

But totalitarian states also aim to control thought to further curb speech., thus restricting the access of common people to a diverse range of information beyond state-controlled media.

But the human quest for truths is so strong that most totalitarian states just don't last very long.

Advanced capitalist societies claim to give a high degree of freedom of speech. Yet, subtle curbs on freedom of thought, and hence indirectly on speech, are present, too, even if lower than in totalitarian ones.

This may seem odd given the absence of overt curbs on on both ends of the  information-thought chain.

Curbs on thoughts are ongoing and rampant.

With respectful dedication to Founder Students : Merium, Rabo, Saima, Haleema, Sara, Zainab, Seher, Dee,  Aqsa, Dantini/Malysia, Lakshmi/India, Zilli, Juniper/Japan, Sherbano, Nina, Anne, Paras, Sorat, Emaan, Armeen, Jennifer.

And Little Angels : Mayna, Maria, Eden, Haanyia, Harem, Ibrahim, Merium.

The Honor and Serving of Operational Research on Societies, Developments, and Progress Forward, continues to Part 2. !WOW! thanks author and researcher Niaz Murtaza for his opinion.

The author is a Senior Fellow with University of California, Berkeley and heads INSPIRING Pakistan, a progressive policy unit.