Ken Ilgunas Discussion

 Class Discussion

Our class discussion with Ken Ilgunas about the first amendment and how it plays a role in our lives was very interesting and I felt that I learned a lot. I found that it was very cool to hear from Ken’s experiences and how they shaped him into the man that he is today.

One of the things that we talked about that I found to be the most interesting was near the end of our chat when Ken talked about his experience and the laws that have been put in place since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we all know we are experiencing a global pandemic right now that is the first of its scale since the Spanish Flu 100 years ago. The Spanish Flu had three different “waves” and had a massive death toll of over 50 million people. Fast forward to 100 years to 2021 and the world is a much different place.

The Spanish Flu was predominantly in Europe unlike COVID-19 which is affecting the entire globe. Countries around the world are taking many different measures to insure the safety of their citizens. 

Ken Ilgunas said in our class that he spent most of the initial quarantine in Scotland. Scotland has taken much different actions compared to the United States when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While we may think that we were in a lockdown, Ken explained that the situation going on in Scotland was and still is in a full lockdown with a curfew where people can only leave their homes for absolute essential reasons such as getting food or going to work.

This played a role in our discussion on the first amendment because unlike the United States, Scotland does not have freedom of speech in their constitution. This means that people are getting in trouble for criticizing the government on how they have handled the lockdown situation. 

It made me realize how important the first amendment is in our society because without it we would not have the right to voice our opinion and criticize the government if we have to.

This is not just happening in Scotland. This is happening in many other countries around the world. One that has been in the spotlight recently is Australia.

Australia, similar to Scotland, is in a full lockdown with a curfew where people can absolutely not leave their homes unless it is for essential reasons. There are people who are saying that they were tackled and beaten by local police for simply taking their trash out to their trash bins past curfew. It does not seem like they can do much about it because they also do not have freedom of speech in their constitution.

Overall it really makes me stop and think about how important the first amendment is in our society and honestly how much I simply take it for granted in my everyday life. The constitution was written in 1787 and still has relevance in so much of our everyday lives in 2021. 

Ken Ilgunas' talk was a very intriguing class and I thank him very much for spending the time to talk about his life and experiences with our class.