Free speech platforms, why?

I know and understand your first thought being: "WHAT!?" and that is a good thing as it's what this post is about. (to make you think, question, tell me I'm a fucking stupid idiot, it's made to make you ask yourself questions and if it did it did what it was supposed to do)

Take a look at the picture I found through Google images from Speakers corner in Hyde park, looks great doesn't it?

A whole lot of people gathering to form an audience willing to listen to the speaker and his ideas and what he has to say.

A crowd willing to stand around to listen to every word said from this person, ears open to let every word trickle into their heads as knowledge and something to carry with them and tell others about...

Sounds idyllic doesn't it, open minds willing to listen and willing to use the information they get to fill the empty holes within their brains, to fill it to the brink with all the information they get?

Personally I would've said "yes" to it all as it is a good idea and a nice thought for your mind and something that gives hope for the future - before I started thinking about what I was thinking about and looking at?

Is a platform like this or speakers corner really good when the masses just gather around to hear what's being said - no questions asked?

What worth does a free thinking mind has when it speaks to non-thinking people?

What value has a revolution without people ready to question its leaders and ideals?

Why did we - who dared to step away from the School's "Everyday thinking manual", always ready to stand up for our ideas and doing our best - never ask ourselves what value free speech really has?

If free speech is - as it is today - saying what you want to a crowd of mindless brains, willing to see you as the next prophet, willing to kill anyone opposing your thoughts, willing to ignore good questions asked about *the beliefs*, what use is a free speech platform and what use has free speech?

I am happy to be at this free speech platform, I am happy to "talk" to anyone listening (as it's still too small to have the "crowd" gathered) but this is where Catch 22 enters as we all want the platform to grow, we all want the masses to turn away from *MASS*media, we all want them to gather here of course. (away from "the norm")

The question still lingers, why, for what? (if the end game is to kill off a platform nothing that matters has really been accomplished)

What use has a free speech platform if the gathered crowd's there to listen?

If the gathered crowd won't use their brains, why are dictators bad and free speech good as the "brain turned to status Off" crowd will never understand the difference of listening and hearing?

So the question I'm really asking and one I hope we all can come together to answer is;

How can we get people to open their minds, to get their brains active enough to have them ask the question - as free thinking individuals -" What's the use of free speech?", when we've made people ask that question rather than just stating "we have free speech here", then we're truely on the way to free speech.

The day you can hear the most hineous thing you can think of and it's questioned and not attacked, then we have free speech.

The day people ask why "though shalt have no other way of thinking before me", that day we have free speech.

The day people ask why anyone listened without questioning is the day we have free *thinking* and that's the day we really need to fight for.