With every new year come new resolutions, some good and some evil. Less than a month into 2011, we have already witnessed the attainment of both, and we can be confident, though not necessarily reassured, that many more are to come. Regardless, while we argue their merits and their consequences, protesting the evil and commending the good, we cannot deny their nature. And expression is the nature of these resolutions.

As the world and the inner workings of society appear to become more convoluted, more uncertain with each new day, we, as humans, find comfort in expression. Our self-expression, whether in an attempt to fill the silence or drown out the noise that exists from a lack of knowledge, is motivated by fear: by the fear of doing wrong or doing too much good, by the fear of saying too much or saying too little, by the fear of what is anticipated and what is unknown.

So, faced with these uncertainties and with this fear, we speak, whether through words or through actions. In large part, The Minuteman newspaper is an embodiment of the expression of these fears, of the fears of our staff writers, our editors, the NA community, and those living beyond the boundaries of our 68-acre campus. And as the staff of The Minuteman knows quite well, speech, being a two-way street, rarely ceases to exist once spoken. The fear that once existed within one single individual is suddenly modified and magnified within a population. And very often, whether justified or not and whether significant or not, this fear merely adds to the uncertainty of the times, inevitably leading to more fear, and in turn, more speech.

And here exist the paradox and the dilemma. For its ramifications, we fear speech, which ironically is our only medium for expressing our fear and for attempting to grasp at the seemingly incomprehensible realities of life. So, do we speak or do we remain silent? Human nature and history suffice as an answer: we will inevitably speak. So then, if we must speak, should we limit expression?

In a practical way, doing so in a society that has known free speech for decades, even centuries, would seem onerous. And drastic measures taken by a controlled, Giver-like society [alluded to in “Eyes Open to Difficult Issues: From Middle School to Old Age”] would merely prohibit the self-expression that we would like to conserve.

In a moral and ideological way, we cannot limit another individual or population’s expression, unless we would be willing to give up our own self-expression. Who would be the ultimate moderator of expression? Even then, how would we ensure that only pre-approved words or actions were “spoken”?

So, unless we rid ourselves completely of this hallmark of free societies, it is evident that we cannot limit expression. And so too must we live with the resultant fear. All we can do then, is to recognize the power of self-expression; to exercise an adequate degree of care and caution before translating our thoughts into words and actions, and before critiquing the expression of others; and to realize that expression, once added to the silence or the cacophony created by fear, has the invariable ability to magnify or eliminate fear.

With these thoughts, and the confidence that this year bodes as one of expression, we wish you a productive, successful, and enjoyable 2011.

Sincerely,

The Staff of The Minuteman