Laws, much like the human societies that they were created to protect and guide, are ultimately impermanent. Over time, and in the face of changing circumstances, certain laws can (and have) become ineffectual and, in many instances, even redundant.

That being said, certain other laws only grow in relevance and importance as time passes. Undoubtedly, the finest example of this is the First Amendment.

Laid down by the Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, the First Amendment dictates, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

With just 45 words, the very essence of the Constitution of the United States was distilled into what any true democracy should aspire to be. Sadly, while the relevance of the First Amendment might remain well and intact in today’s world, the ability and willingness of many members of the government to live up to its stipulations has waned greatly. So much so that, in the name of protecting state secrets, many have been subjected to threats and even lawsuits, courtesy of the U.S. government.

The America, where if given the choice of a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, the number one citizen of the country, “…should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter,” is fast fading into obscurity.

National security is of paramount importance. This is one reason why no one needs to be told just how precious state secrets are. However, it shouldn’t be hard to see that something is amiss when governments start to use the excuse of “state secrets” to put the people in the dark.

The United States of America is certain to lose all that it holds dear if she dares to let the voice of the free press be silenced. Yet, even before our very eyes, this exact thing is happening and it has been happening for decades.

For context, consider this; according to Reporters Without Borders, the United States of America currently ranks 45 out of a list of 180 countries where freedom of speech is concerned. While (thankfully) the U.S. government doesn’t have reporters killed or jailed, the fact remains that in the eyes of the international community, the press in countries like Ghana and South Africa have more latitude than here in the “land of the free.”

Some people will think that this is a recent development. The antics of the “Trump Administration, among other things, may even spring to mind here. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Efforts by the government to stifle the power and will of the free press have been evident since as far back as the 1900s. The biggest proof of this is the Espionage Act of 1917. The fact that such an edict was allowed to exist in the very first place is a travesty on all that freedom of speech is supposed to represent.

From 1917 to 2007, this law was used to successfully convict one whistleblower. What most Americans may not know however is that the Obama Administration also took advantage of it to prosecute 8 different individuals. What was their crime? These whistleblowers dared to tell Americans things the government thought the people didn’t need to know.

The irony of this entire situation is that wittingly or not, the government is trying to destroy one of the very cores of the country by attacking free speech.

Timm Trevor aptly points this out in a 2017 TED Talk titled, “How Free is Our Freedom of the Press?” In this expose, he said, “Some of the most important voices before and during the American Revolution were anonymous pamphleteers who were writing under pseudonyms, talking about the crimes of the British government.”

Without the pamphlets and newspapers that our government is trying so desperately to squash now, the odds are good that the country wouldn’t be the global envy that it is today.

If we are to face the truth, such as it is, one thing becomes blatantly obvious. The government isn’t truly all that interested in protecting state secrets. At least, that’s not the main reason they are hounding journalists and whistleblowers left, right, and center. They just want to keep the public in the dark. They want to secure their authority by fostering ignorance among the proletariat.

Should their mission succeed, they would make sheep of the people, operating only as they see fit.

A difference in ideology will always mean that those in government will be guided by less than altruistic intentions, sometimes. The implication of this is that a balancing force is needed to keep the government in check.

As Timm puts it, “…so the fourth estate, the press, is really the last mechanism that the public has to force accountability on the government.” Because, as history has repeatedly shown, any government that’s allowed to run unchecked inevitably destroys its people.

When the press is allowed the liberty to do its job, the people become not only well-informed but the government is also able to learn from its mistakes and grow. Timm points out evidence of this in the aftermath of impactful events like the leaking of the CIA torture program and the Pentagon Papers.

“The only reason that reforms were made is because investigative reporters talked to whistleblowers in the government and published information the government tried to keep secret,” Timm says.

There is no conceivable premise under which it would be reasonable or natural for the people to give this up. Let’s not forget that those who sacrifice their liberty for safety will end up losing both.

If there was ever a time to join forces and protect the freedom and sanctity of the press, that time is right now!