Liberty

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2008

download word file, 4 pages 5.0

Where to draw a line between liberty and authority Mill proposes that people will gain greater happiness if they can tolerate different ideas rather than to censor others to follow the will. The right of liberty should allow citizens to pursue their individually defines visions of the good life without causing harm to others. However, the government has the right to punish the people who jeopardize other people¡¦s rights. In fact, Mill¡¦s idea has been widely applied in the United Sate. The principle of the Constitution and Bill of Rights is to protect value of the individual without being suppressed by the government¡¦s authority. Therefore, different ethic and religious community can gather together peacefully. However, the current issues such as the ¡§ Sept. 11 terrorism attack¡¨ and the ¡§Enron collapse¡¨ arouse public attention about where to draw the line between liberty and authority. Should we sacrifice some people¡¦s liberty in order to trade off for the ¡§greater good¡¨-domestic security and financial safety? To me, people¡¦s individual freedom should not be prohibited if it does not violate other people¡¦s right.

Also, the right of freedom should be restricted to the people who are not mature enough to take responsibilities. However, too limit of individual freedom will suppress human happiness and cause people to go extreme to strike for freedom with violence.

The government¡¦s job is to protect the diversity of interest and abilities that exists among individual. Therefore, people should be permitted to have ¡§private¡¨ activity, and the limitation is depending on their own moral standard. Moreover, people from different culture and educational background have developed their own ideas, and sometimes these ideas might have conflicts with others. In order to lead a peaceful and healthy society, the tolerance to diversity of voice and different way of life is very crucial.