Why is privacy so terrible?

Question

Years ago, privacy was a major component of FREEDOM. A free man enjoyed privacy; a slave or prisoner did not. Today, we are urged to renounce our privacy, but why?

I view personal "freeness" as a linear spectrum where one end is marked "slave/prisoner" and the other is marked "free".

Each step we take in restricting or expanding personal sovereignty, equals a step toward either freedom or slavery.

Privacy, independence, and self-determination are all hallmarks of a free man. When we reduce any of these, we walk toward slavery.

When I hear someone say, "There oughta be a law against (fill in the blank)." I usually wonder what it is about slavery that they like so much.

What about you? Where do you stand on the Freedom Spectrum? Closer to slavery, or closer to freedom?

On the larger scale, remember this: Tyrannical governments ALWAYS reduce citizen's privacy, while simultaneously increasing governmental secrecy. Where has this occurred, recently?

Answer 1

I'm with you, Party Poop! Of course, I'm old enough to remember the McCarthy hearings, the House UnAmerican Affairs Committee, J. Edgar Hoover, Watergate, Iran-Contra and many other attempts to infringe upon privacy. The real problem is twofold: lack of education into exactly what freedoms and protections our Constitution guarantees and the mind-numbing propaganda of the overly controlling personalities among us who want everyone to do things their way and only their way.

Answer 2

It is unfortunate that the terrorsists use our "personal freedoms" so easily against us. You may cry a little about not being able to get on an airplane or make several calls to terrorist countries without being searched. But remember that the Govt is charged with the safety of its citizens, there has to be a balance of privacy and intrusion, until recently the balance was more towards individual privacy, the balance has shifted to where it is necessary for the govt, for the safety of it's citizens, to enact some measures of intrusion.

Answer 3

True freedom cannot exist in chaos, so there have to be rules (laws) in place protecting our freedoms from those who might otherwise take them away from us.

Thus, the forefathers came up with an imperfect but pretty brilliant document (the U.S. Constitution) which outlines the restrictions placed on the federal government that keep it from being able to infringe on your right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (Yes, I know that phrase is in the Declaration and not the Constitution, but the two documents are irretrievably linked, so I'm using it here.)

We make laws - or we SHOULD make laws - to protect our basic freedoms, not to restrict the freedoms of others. People like to demand laws against things they disagree with, like abortion or gay marriage, because they feel like they have the right to directly dictate how others should live. In truth, neither of these issues is any of their business. To impose laws against either of these things is in direct violation of the restrictions the Constitution places on governmental authority.

It is illegal to impose your moral values on someone else.

Answer 4

You keep your privacy and I will keep my life.

We aren't being asked to give up our freedoms and all of our privacy. We are being asked for a little cooperation in getting around this country safely.

I don't want to give up my personal privacy but if I am going to fly on a plane please feel free to check my bag. I am not hiding anything so what's the big deal? I don't want to give up my personal privacy but if I make a lot of overseas calls and you think it may be terrorist related please check the numbers. I am not hiding anything so what's the big deal?

Answer 5

Privacy is over rated. People only want privacy for two things - when they are undressed, and when they are doing something they don't want seen by others. Privacy is the veil behind which people commit crimes. Don't search my trunk. Don't pat me down. None of your business what my tax return says - if all's clean, who cares??