I think that we can all agree that the reason government exists is to ensure the well being of its citizens. John Locke said that "man being free and equal can not be put under the power of another man without his consent".1 He and our founders believed that civil liberty is always a trade off between freedom and security. That the balance between civil liberty and security is ever changing due to our worlds changing circumstances and that right now because of our increased need. that balance has swung toward security. Most of us are not Patrick Henry and would be quite willing to lose a great deal of freedom in order to save our lives, and there is nothing wrong with that. Giving up a certain amount of freedom in exchange for the safety and comfort of civilized society is what government is all about. We are to give up some of our freedoms and government gives us protection in exchange, this is what good government is.
United States
United States
United StatesThe idea that "freedom is indivisible and that if you lose a little you have lost it all, that if one person is deprived of liberty then we all are"2, is a nice idea, but it just isn't true. How many people is the patriot act really going to effect? How likely is it that your liberties are going to be infringed upon on because of the new legislation adopted since our war on terrorist ideology began? Chances are your liberties won't be infringed upon at all.
Lets start by tackling sec. 215 of the PATRIOT Act, which gives the government the ability to order any person or entity to turn over "any tangible things"3 to the government. What many people fail to realized is that the government can do...