Free Speech and Flying Your Freak Flag
Because without the freedom to speak, there’s no freedom to create.
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” -George Orwell
You may’ve noticed we’ve shifted away from straight political commentary at The Cure in recent years.
Truth is, there are already more political takes online than anyone could read without going numb. We decided our platform might do better celebrating creativity, progress, and positivity…even when the world feels dark.
Especially when, really.
Because despite everything, those things still exist. And they don’t get nearly enough love online. Algorithms and media tend to elevate humanity’s worst angels. That’s not great for the spirit, or for the future.
Thus.
We believe there aren’t enough people out there shouting reminders about positivity and goodness and that kind of stuff into the wilderness. But you have to be able to shout into the wilderness in the first place.
Which is why the recent cancellations (aka Jimmy Kimmel, et al., especially after Charlie Kirk’s death) made in response to Charlie Kirk’s murder are so concerning. Both the violence itself and response to it are direct attacks on free speech, both culturally and constitutionally.
There are a million valid injustices to worry about. But none of them can be addressed without conversation…which itself can only thrive in a society that tolerates different viewpoints and supports honest, complex discussion.
The public discourse hasn’t exactly been beautiful the past decade. Conversations full of divisive hot takes seem more geared towards turning politics into some kind of rage-filled cesspool of dopamine hits than actually moving the human ball forward.
And yet.
Free speech remains deeply foundational. Not just in America, but across global democratic systems. It’s so essential and omnipresent that it becomes invisible the same way things like electricity, clean flowing, working infrastructure and functional supply chains become invisible. Their omnipresence makes them easy to take for granted.
But it’s called exercising your rights for a reason. Like any muscle, it needs use. And right now, we’d do well to hit the proverbial free speech gym before this core muscle--of our individual selves and any aspirational society—withers from apathy and distraction.
Self‑expression and self‑actualization are intertwined. If we want to realize the potential inside all of us, we’ve got to be able to express it in its contradictions and confusions and glory.
And right now, as a new chill descends over free speech from below and above, we need to keep our voices hot and ready and sharp. And the only way to do that is through exercising ‘em. Of keeping on keeping on and rejecting this fear.
Because as Dune so eloquently warned us, “fear is the mind killer.”
The principle of free speech lets us make wild, weird art. Cool films. Rage politically. Express ourselves in whatever way feels realest.
If you need a little inspiration, perhaps consider the 2025 documentary Speak, directed by Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman, which made waves at this year’s Sundance. It follows five high school debate-teamers on their way to the National Speech and Debate Association’s top competition. By speaking their own truths and testing them out in high-stakes debate, these kids do the work of identity formation and build a framework for both confident advocacy and personal realization.
And if the kids can do it, so can we.
So listen: we’re not telling you it’s time to publish a political manifesto (though maybe it is). Maybe it’s just time to put your art into the world. Write that poem. Upload that song. Launch that podcast. Post that piece.
Remind yourself that self‑expression is a fulfillment of our basic duty as a human: being true to ourselves and those around us.
Any rejection of that is worth rejecting.
Let your freak flag fly,
CONVICTS
