The Freedom of Speech is NOT a "nice to have"

  Studies have been done of companies that are failing and many times an underlying problem pervades them.   That problem is a lack of communication where lower company workers do not feel safe expressing their concerns to upper level management.  Contrast that to companies who are excelling in their business fields just the opposite is true and people can alert others to issues so they can be addressed before they become full out problems costing the company millions of dollars.  The reason this is so vitally important is that instead of having only a handful of eyes (managers) scanning the company for problems you have thousands of eyes all being alert and vigilant. 

   The same also goes for countries as well as companies.  Where countries allow their citizens to voice their opinions, problems seen can be addressed early and the country saved.  But like the issue with corporations, those at the top must be willing to hear from those at the bottom.  And there is the rub.  Many times leaders don't want to hear what is going wrong or how their policies are hurting those on the bottom. It becomes easier for them to shut down those who oppose them than it is to admit their mistake and change course.

   This can have disastrous effects. 

   For example, in 1986 the space shuttle Discovery blew up shortly after liftoff.  After many months of investigation it came to our attention that a O-ring crack caused by ice buildup was to blame.  But upon further study they found that engineers at the company that made the O-rings knew about the possibility that freezing water would be harmful.  They were not allowed to voice their concerns to people up the chain at NASA for fear it would cause a delay in the next launch.  In hind-sight that was the wrong thing to be worried about.

  That is why the Freedom of Speech is not a "nice to have" but instead is a integral part of our country which is why its put at the top of our founding fathers "Top 10 List".  Because we have this amendment, every citizen has not only the right , but also the DUTY to alert its fellow members about what they see as wrongs being committed by its leaders, so we as a country are not taken down a dangerous path of destruction.