Are you willing to give up some freedom to be safe?

Question

Because of the terrorist attacks, the Government has taken extra procautions to ensure American safety. Some people are even being watched by the goverment on a 24/7 bases. There is a program in their computers in which if certian words are spoken in a conversation, they will investigate the person who meantioned them in case they are a threat. Is it really too unrealistic to think that someday all americans will be under watch? Im sure youve all heard the "big brother" term before. But by allowing our goverment to do these things for our safety, we have to be willing to give up privacy, and some freedoms. (remember freedom is what this country is built on)

So my question is, are you willing to give up some freedoms (little by little, couldnt they all go away?) To ensure the safety of your country?

Im really young (14) and wondering if this idea could be correct. Serious inquires only please. Be nice!

Answer 1

Absolutely not. Under no circumstances should personal liberties be trampled over just to promote some false sense of security.

If I may be so bold to quote Benjamin Franklin:

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

The concept of "Big Brother" was from the book "1984" and has since been used as a sort of a description of what has been going on since 2001.

However, one critical thing people don't think about when drawing parallels between the book and reality is that Big Brother in the book is *competent* and *intelligent*. Unfortunately, the Federal Government is filled with normal, everyday people- prone to lying, slacking off, et. al.

You can be concerned that a inept federal government will lose more things, forget more things, and get more things wrong than anything ever mentioned in the book.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I am willing to give up some of my freedoms to ensure my safety. Your question has something to do with the Patriot Act No? I feel there needs to be a balance between the government being a "Big Brother" and the government Keeping us safe. With out these new technologies in National Security we are a Very Very vulnerable Nation.

I Believe we need to keep our govt Informed as to what the people of the United States are up to, but not to the point where it becomes a Totalitarian government. Its a tough question that can be debated forever, but i believe in being safe Rather than sorry. So what if some FBI creep listens to my conversations on the phone...... if it is truly to keep the country i live in safe then i have no contest.

Answer 3

These things are NOW going on, yet I have given up NONE of my freedoms. I am not doing anything wrong, so I do not mind if the government wants to watch me. I think that if there are suspicious persons out there, YES, they should be watched...and if, to be politically correct, I have to be scooped up into that same net of "watched people," then so be it.

If a cop wanted to search my car (never happened so far), I'd say, go for it. I have nothing to hide, so I don't consider it a freedom being given up.

For all the activities the government has engaged in that everyone is complaining about, I have to say, I have not felt any of my freedoms slipping away. Again, I have NOTHING to hide, especially nothing that they're looking for.

Personally, I'm not so egotistical as to think they even know I exist. My understanding is that they are monitoring people of suspicion and not just every Tom, Rick, and Harry. So, no offense to all the people who have aroused the suspicions of the government, but I'm ok with your being monitored.

If I come under suspicion, no biggie. I'm still free; it's just that I may have an audience. No problem.

No, they're not going to take ALL my freedoms little by little. So far, I've lost NONE of my freedoms.

Answer 4

The government actually needs a reason to tap someone's computer and has to get a judge-issued warrant to back up that reason. Before the executive branch was using their power to do it wihtout a warrant but that was only for international phone calls. A judge just struck down even that practice. So long as we have the Constitution and judges like this, there will be no Big Brother watching over us like in 1984 by H.G. Wells. Give up some freedom to be safe? It's not us giving up our freedoms, it's only people who can the executive branch can prove to a special type of judge that they are likjely a threat to us. You don't have to worry, unless you're explicitly paired with a terrorist group.

Answer 5

OK, one thing that some people (usually liberals) fail to understand is that if you do not have safety, you do not have freedom. How free are you if you are told "Well, you should not go to the mall alone at night, it's not safe" or "Well, don't go to your friend's house, it's in a bad neighborhood".

Things like cameras do not sacrifice freedom. If they put cameras in parking lots, parks, etc, you can still do every single LEGAL thing you could do if the cameras were not there. The only difference is, if you CHOOSE to do something illegal, it will be on tape and there will be a greater chance of getting caught.

Answer 6

No, I'm not willing to give up freedoms to be 'safe'. In my opinion what is happening is an errosion of our rights as Americans. Eventually we will lose a lot of rights for a psuedo-safety. We need to fight every attempt to remove our rights.

Firstly, how much safer are we now that we can't take nail clippers on the plane? Really.

So, I can't take my shampoo on... what is to prevent a suicide bomber from putting balloons filled with chemicals in his rectum and transporting the explosives that way? Drug dealers used to (probably still do) smuggle drugs that way. Are we going to eventually allow body cavity searches before getting on a plane?

How does reading my email make things safer? Only sent mails are read, so what if (and I've read articles saying this IS happening) the 'bad guys' are saving drafts of emails to the webmail, that any one of their 'bad guy' friends can log into. They can still communicate and the mail isn't read by the 'surveillance bots' because it was never *sent*.

Can't I talk about 'flushing the toilet' instead of 'blowing something up'? "I wish you good luck getting rid of that giant turd" could be code for "blow the damn place up and kill all those government types".

How about postal workers start reading all our mail? We get our bills and birthday cards (minus the cash & gift cards), letters, etc opened by a diligent postal worker inspecting the mail for threats to the government.

I'm happy to see a child your age taking what's happening seriously enough to start investigating it. With more kids like you, there might be hope after all. :)

Answer 7

Absolutely not. I would much rather fight the terrorists than my own government.

I have been very disappointed by the US response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I believe invading Afghanistan was correct. Afterwards, when all intelligence pointed to Pakistan, I believe we should have sent our troops there rather than Iraq. If Pakistan had objections, they could bring it up at the UN. We could have cut a deal anyway; President Musharef (sp?) doesn't control the territory OBL is believed to be hiding in anyway. We could have gone in, secured the area, and then hand it back over to him.

What has happened since has been just an absolute travesty. The NSA is watching you and me. What for? I'm not going to attack this country.

The fight's out there. If we choose to let our freedoms fall by the wayside, then the terrorists win. I would much rather just kill them.

Answer 8

When a veteran says he fought for our flag, its really the constitution that he fought for. America and the American way of life is bassed on the constitution. It is the supreme law of the land. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died to preserve our constitution. Its a gross disservice to them to compromise our constitution because
3,000 people died in the WTC. As horrific as it was, if we give up our constitution then we play into the hands of the terrorists as well as the fascists who claim to be protecting us. I am hundreds of times more likely to be killed in a car accident than by a terrorist, but I don't want the government to take away my right to drive, or slow the speed limit to 30 miles per hour on the highway. Freedom is a precious thing and without the constitution our freedom will be taken away little by little.
"when you give up freedom for safety you lose both."

Answer 9

When you go out on to the Internet you essentially are going out into Public. This is a non secure avenue of communications. You can compare it to a giant mall. Anyone can listen to your conversation, see what you bought, see where you eat, etc. That is why they have secure lines for purchases on line. When you see https: , the "s" at the end tells you its a secure line. If you was total security you will need to purchase equipment that will allow you that level of security. Until then, Not only big brother is watching, but every body else is too. The Internet is just as private as times square.

Answer 10

Simply by agreeing to live in a civilized state with other people we all give up some freedoms to live in safety.

For instance, we give up our freedom to beat up or kill people who insult us, injure us, or take something from us. Instead we agree to let government handle it. We give up our freedom to drive on the left side of the road; to drive after having six beers; to park in front of fire hydrants or zones designated for the disabled. We give up the freedom build a shelter wherever we want; to take the food from other people's plates; to torture animals to death; to hunt bald eagles; to not go to school; to walk into a movie without paying; etc., etc. In short, we all give up an enormous number of freedoms simply to live together in peace and safety. So the answer is that we are all willing to give up some freedoms. The only question is where we agree to draw the line.